Until the Last Breath
by Lady Callista
Summary: Love is wonderful, scary, and painful. It isn't always enough. But it's worth it when you find the person that, no matter what, will be with you forever. After The Winter War series. IchiHime, w/ HitsuKarin, ByaRan, RenRuk, GinRan, IzuMomo, ShuNan
1. Losses

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet or in books, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: Remembrance and Scars are still being written, and the new RenRuk fic is in the works, but this story grabbed my muse and then blossomed out of control. I spent a weekend becoming re-addicted to FLOL, and my muse thereafter refused to write anything but IchiHime. So I was just going to write the sequel to I'll Stand By You. Then as I got into it I remembered how many people wanted more HitsuKarin. Then I got a string of reviews for For Her Smile that made me really want to write about Ran finding out about a certain something. And I'm still getting requests for a sequel to Behind His Mask. And RenRuk's main fic won't come, so I'm hoping writing some of them in this will help. And I felt bad for the people who wanted a ShuNan fic, cause I'm honestly not sure I'll ever get to that. So I'm breaking one of the two rules I set for myself when I started the After The Winter War series. Although this is technically an IchiHime fic, and will have more of them than anyone else, there will be parts that focus solely on other couples and characters. I'm sorry if you dislike any particular pairing. And although my other rule, that each story would stand on its own without you having read any of the others, is mostly followed, I will admit you'll get much more out of this if you've read the rest of the series. Timeline-wise this begins around the end of No Warm Memories, which is two years after the end of the War. (In fact, if you're read NWM much of this chapter will be familiar, but I had to set the scene for those who have not read it. And to balance it out this part is almost twice as long as my normal chapters.) If you are new to the series, especially if you really like IchiHime, HitsuKarin, RanGin, or ByaRan, I would recommend you read at least that couple's story before reading this one. And that might just be the longest intro I've ever written. Gomen nasai.

* * *

Until the Last Breath

By Lady Callista

Chapter 1 : Losses

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_I will love you always. When this red hair is white, I will still love you. When the smooth softness of youth is replaced with the delicate softness of age, I will still want to touch your skin. When your face is full of the lines of every smile you have smiled, of every surprise I have seen flash through your eyes, when every tear you have cried has left its mark upon your face, I will treasure you all the more, because I was there to see it all. I will share your life with you, Meredith, and I will love you until the last breath leaves your body or mine."_

_-Frost in "A Lick of Frost" by Laurell K. Hamilton_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

They had been at the party for the two year-anniversary of the Winter War's end when the jigoku-cho interrupted the party. Its words still echoed in Ichigo's mind as he ran as fast as he could, cursing the fact that he couldn't use shunpo within the gate.

"_Urgent notice to all members of the Gotei Juusantai, multiple Gillain and at least two Adjuchas have been reported in Karakura Town, Japan." _

"We'll make it in time, Ichigo." Orihime said in his ear as the exit from the Reishihenkanki came into view. "Plus your dad is there, and Karin-chan. It'll be okay."

"I know, and since their gate is faster, the Shinigami should be there already." Ichigo replied as he ran at full speed, the fact that his girlfriend was on his back not slowing him down at all. Chad and Uryu ran behind him, almost keeping up, but Orihime was nowhere near fast enough to run with them. "Still, why now?"

"Maybe they knew we were all gone." Uryu offered as they cleared the gate, Urahara's magic having made it appear less than a block from the Kurosaki house, where it could be sensed the attack was centered.

Ichigo paused for an instant to take in the battle.

The Shinigami had, indeed, already arrived.

Ichigo watched as Renji and Rukia teamed up wordlessly to annihilate groups of Gillians, their long experience of working together showing. He expected to see Rangiku and Toshiro similarly working together, but instead saw Toshiro on the ground, the wings of his bankai almost completely enclosing both him and a small dark haired girl clutched in his arms. Ichigo couldn't see her face, but it could only be…

"El Directo." A huge blast of energy cut through three of the Gillians as Chad joined the fight.

A second later, with no word of warning, dozens of blue arrows made of light shot into the Gillians as Uryu manifested his bow.

Orihime hopped down from his back as they both heard Toshiro scream her name, and she ran into the fight without hesitation, knowing Ichigo would watch her back, and knowing, just like Ichigo did, who the dark-haired girl on the ground must be.

"Ban-Kai. Tensa Zangetsu." Ichigo bellowed as he charged into the battle, managing to bury his worries until he dealt with the immediate threat. "Getsuga Tensho."

Orihime ran through the fighting as fast as she could, her focus on nothing but the icy cave that she knew was made of Hitsugaya Toshiro's wings. She trusted her friends to protect her, and knew that she had to get to Toshiro, and the figure she had seen in his arms, as quickly as possible.

An opening appeared between the wings as she drew near, and Orihime launched herself into the space without hesitation, although she felt her body break out in goose-bumps at how cold is was inside.

"Soten Kisshun." Orihime cast her flowers out over Karin at once, terrified at the amount of blood pouring from the girl's stomach, and waited for the familiar feeling of healing. She frowned when it did not come, and Orihime started to cry as she realized that although the wound was closing, she couldn't sense Karin's reiatsu. "I…I don't understand."

"TOSHIRO!"

Orihime felt the young taicho's bankai evaporate as Ichigo shouted his name, and felt everyone gathering around them. Yet she kept all of her focus on Karin, not understanding why she couldn't heal her. Even if Karin was dead, Orihime had basically healed that before, although maybe it was different with humans, and then there was…

"Karin." Isshin whispered, his hand reaching out towards his daughter, although he knew better than to try and reach through the shield around her. "I didn't know there was a second one…"

Orihime tuned out his pain-filled voice, tuned out the wave of agony she felt from Ichigo, tuned out everything except Karin and the healing shield around her. The wound was fully closed, so why….

"There's nothing you can do. Without the soul, you can't bring the body back."

Orihime felt Rukia kneel to the side of and behind her. She felt her friend's hands on her shoulders. She heard her words. But she couldn't make herself believe it. There was no way that Karin could be dead. She was Ichigo's little sister, and Ichigo always had to protect everyone he loved, and if she couldn't bring his sister back, then…

"Once the chain of fate isn't attached to the body…" Rangiku whispered, kneeling between Orihime and Toshiro.

Her grief exploding, Orihime let her healing shield drop and collapsed into Rukia's arms, barely aware of anything else. All she could feel was her pain. And, of course, the pain of the man she loved.

She felt Ichigo behind her, the pain radiating from him like nothing she'd ever felt. And although she wanted to turn to him, to comfort him, her own grief paralyzed her. And the guilt was almost worse than the grief. She hadn't been able to save Karin. One of the most important people to the man she loved, and she hadn't been able to save her.

Toshiro let out a scream of pain and collapsed over Karin's body, hugging her to himself as he sobbed brokenly. Rangiku wrapped herself around her taicho's back, holding him as he cried.

Still sobbing, Orihime reached out and caught Toshiro's hand in her own, understanding exactly what he was feeling. The fact that Rangiku seemed to understand as well was irrelevant at the moment, as was the fact that no one else questioned the boy taicho hugging and crying over the body of the girl that none of them knew he'd been dating for two years.

Orihime heard Uryu ask something, but the exact words were lost over her sobbing.

Although tears flowed freely down his face, Ichigo was also aware of his girlfriend's pain, and had just started to move towards her when he heard his father gasp. He spun to face his father, and followed Isshin's line of sight towards his house.

He saw his sisters. Yuzu looked very confused, and was holding one of her hands awkwardly. Attached to that hand was a chain. A chain that protruded straight from a ghostly Karin's chest.

Ichigo was beside her in an instant, wrapping both his sisters in his strong arms. "I told you that you shouldn't be fighting." He whispered in Karin's ear, not caring that his voice gave evidence of his tears.

"They were going after Yuzu." Karin whispered back, unsurprised when her father's arms suddenly joined her brother's around her. "I knew none of you were here… I had to…"

Karin drew back suddenly, and Ichigo watched in confusion as his sister pulled away and moved over to where her body lay. He then grew even more confused when Karin put a hand on Rangiku's shoulder, and a moment later wrapped herself around Toshiro's back, whispering words he could not hear.

Toshiro released her body and spun to take Karin into his arms, his tears actually growing stronger. He was saying something, but Ichigo couldn't hear him either, nor could he understand why the two of them were clinging to each other. They hadn't seen each other in over a year, yet they were acting like a couple.

Yet whatever Toshiro was saying apparently struck a chord with Karin, for without warning his sister suddenly began sobbing as well, clinging to Toshiro as if her heart had just been broken.

"We need to get inside." Uryu said after a moment, a moment that had been silent other than the sounds of two people crying. "If anyone sees…"

Ichigo closed his eyes for a moment as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Uryu, Chad, could the two of you do a patrol around the city? If you were right, and the Hollows attacked tonight because they knew we were all gone…"

"Of course, Ichigo." Chad replied at once, trading a brief look with the Quincy before the two of them ran off.

Rukia had already pulled Orihime to her feet and was starting to lead her into the house, a confused Renji following in their wake.

Ichigo moved towards Yuzu, intending to take her inside as well, when he realized that the fate chain that connected his sisters would not allow Yuzu to go into the house unless Karin went as well. He had just moved towards his sister's spirit when he heard a scream and footsteps from across the street.

"Neighbor." Isshin hissed to his son. "Only you and Yuzu can be seen. Get Yuzu inside, I'll be back out in my body in a second. I can say I didn't want Yuzu to see this. I'll think of something to explain the death."

"Rangiku, get them inside now!" Ichigo ordered quietly as he scooped Yuzu up in his arms and started towards the house.

Toshiro and Karin still seemed to notice nothing but each other, and Rangiku had nearly picked them both up when they finally became aware of what was going on and allowed themselves to be ushered into the house.

Urahara was already there when Ichigo walked in, and he settled on the couch with Yuzu still in his arms as he listened to the shopkeeper talking to Orihime and Rukia.

"She has to be allowed to move on, or she'll eventually become a Hollow." Urahara Kisuke said as he faced off with Orihime.

"There has to be some way." Orihime replied.

"It's not possible." Urahara replied. "Konso is how a soul enters Soul Society, and once there it loses all memories of it's previous life."

"Why can't you just stay here?" Yuzu cried from her place on Ichigo's lap. Although she wasn't a fighter like Karin was, she'd learned quite a bit about the spiritual world over the past two years.

No one paid the least bit of attention to the sirens outside that announced the arrival of the police and EMTS.

Ichigo wrapped his arms more securely around his sister, sharing a look with Orihime as she came over and sat beside them, one hand resting on Ichigo's knee while the other stroked over Yuzu's hair comfortingly.

Karin lifted her head from where she was cuddled into Toshiro's chest enough to look at her sister. "I don't belong here anymore, sis." Karin said, briefly using one of her hands to lift the chain that connected the sisters. "Besides, do you really want me following you around forever?"

Yuzu cracked a smile as outside their father let out a particularly exaggerated wail. "You just don't wanna put up with dad anymore."

"There is that." Karin smiled back slightly, then turned to Urahara. "But there has to be some way for me to keep my memory."

"Well," Urahara glanced at her fate chain. "The way I first trained Ichigo to become a Shini…"

"Absolutely not!" Ichigo asserted.

"Ichi-nii, what…" Karin turned to face him.

"No, Urahara." Ichigo glared at the man. "It's too big a risk. Just let her go to Soul Society. And then we'll find her and find a way to restore her memories."

"But Rukongai is huge." Rangiku interjected, although she knew her taicho well enough to add, "Not that I have any doubt we'd look until we found her, but her memories…"

"No one has ever been able to restore a soul's memories." Rukia said quietly.

"What if I just take her through the Senkaimon with me?" Toshiro spoke for the first time since they'd entered the room, glancing at Urahara. He sat on the couch with Karin curled against his chest, his arms tightly around her. For once he didn't care what people thought. He just never wanted to let her go.

"I can't answer that." Urahara shrugged. "To my knowledge it's never been tried."

"What's the worst that could happen?" Rukia wanted to know.

"Well, that would depend." Urahara thought out loud. "If a Jigokucho comes for her, she'd be fine. But if not, you'd have to make sure she wasn't separated from you, or her soul could be lost forever."

"We won't get separated." Toshiro replied in a tone that broached no debate.

"In that case, she'll make it to the other side. But I have no idea what will happen once she's there. She may lose her memories, or not. There is no way to know."

The room fell silent for a moment, broken by Karin hesitantly asking, "What about Kyokon?"

Urahara shrugged again. "Another question I can't answer." He glanced over at Orihime. "We've been looking into it, but there's really no frame of reference. There are just no records of humans manifesting powers to the degree Sado-san and the two of you ladies have. We have no idea what will happen to any of you when you die and enter Soul Society."

"The best guess is that you'll keep your powers." Rangiku interjected. "But they may change somewhat, to become more like zanpakutos. All of you have strong enough reiatsu to become Shinigami, and we think that once you start training for that your powers will change to reflect what you are."

Everyone looked at her in amazement.

"What?" Rangiku blushed slightly. "I just figured we'd need to know someday, and Ukitake-taicho was very helpful."

"You've known all along, haven't you?" Toshiro questioned with a raise of his eyebrow.

Rangiku nodded. "Did you really think you were just that lucky that no one noticed all the times you left Seireitei?"

"All the times?" Ichigo glared at Toshiro and Karin. "But it's been almost a year since I saw you two together." Although he'd never objected to them becoming friends, the thought of the hopelessness of them being anything more had made him glad when they'd stopped seeing each other.

"And of course you're with me every minute of the day." Karin said drolly.

"But…but…" Ichigo gaped, unable to believe that she'd been sneaky enough over the past year that he had had no idea what had been going on. Granted, he'd been wrapped up in Orihime. But he knew Orihime treated his sisters as if they were her own, and he'd asked her just a few months ago how Karin had been doing now that Toshiro was gone, and she had said his sister was fine. Although now that he thought about it, she had blushed a bit.

"Does it really matter anymore?" Orihime asked quietly, knowing he would feel the total lack-of-shock from her, and that they would have to talk about this later.

"No, but it's kinda funny." Renji spoke for the first time since Karin had died. He'd been very confused seeing Toshiro crying over the dead girl, but he'd heard enough now to figure out what had been going on. "Hitsugaya-taicho. Mr. Follow-the Rules, Mr. Be Formal, Mr. Never Smile or Laugh. And he's been dating a human for the past year. Sneaking around behind the other Shinigami's backs…"

"Two years, actually." Rangiku added helpfully.

"Two?" Renji laughed.

"At least he told her he liked her right away." Rukia elbowed him in the side. "It took you how many years?"

"Well, you could have told me that you…"

Rukia and Renji continued to argue as Orihime rose to try and break the two of them apart.

"Renji-kun, Rukia, please." Orihime said softly. "Does it really matter right now?"

"Well, they would have been together sooner if Renji had the balls to…" Rangiku cut in, causing the argument between the red-head and his wife to escalate.

"There's no way she can just stay with us?"

Yuzu's quiet voice caused Ichigo to turn all of his attention to her. "No, she can't. Once a person is… is dead, they have to move on to Soul Society, or…"

"Or they'll become a Hollow." Yuzu whispered. "I know that, but, you and all your friends are so strong. You have to find some way to fix things."

"I wish I could, Yuzu." Ichigo whispered, kissing her forehead. "If there was anything that I could do… But the longer we wait…"

He trailed off just as Rukia and Renji stopped arguing, and as a result everyone heard Karin's quiet comment. "You want to delay, because you'd rather wonder and hope for the best than have the worst happen. But I couldn't concentrate on anything else. I couldn't be happy, not with that hanging over me. I just need to know."

Toshiro glanced up from her face, noticing that everyone in the room was now silent and watching them. "Abarai-taicho, the three of you should head back now. I don't want anyone else with us in the Senkaimon just in case something strange happens."

Rangiku smirked, as was expected of her, although her eyes blazed with shared pain. "It also means you won't be the first one to break the news to the others."

"Who gets to do that?" Renji wanted to know, then started sputtering as he noticed both Rangiku and Rukia looking at him. "Why me? He's your taicho…"

"Yes, but you are the ranking officer, and…"

"Children, children." Urahara tisked. "Let's go out to the backyard, and I'll open the gate for you. You can argue more then." He quickly shepherded them out.

"Please, Ichi-nii." Karin turned to her brother, seeing the protest on his face. "Stay here with Dad and Yuzu. Anything you say or do will feel like goodbye, and either you don't need to say it or I won't remember it anyway. I just need to get this over with. I need to know."

"Can I say goodbye at least?" Yuzu sniffed. "Since I can't go to Soul Society like Ichi-nii can."

Toshiro released Karin, and she went to sit next to her sister. "I may be able to come back someday and see you."

Orihime stood up, pulling Ichigo with her as Yuzu slid off his lap and into their sister's arms. "Let's give them some space." She headed to the backyard with Ichigo in tow, and Toshiro quietly followed behind them.

Ichigo turned to face Toshiro as soon as they entered the yard. Urahara stood by the Senkaimon, keeping its doors open although the other three were already gone from sight. It was easier to keep it open for a few minutes than to open another one.

"Let me know the minute you arrive." Ichigo said, a hard look on his face.

Toshiro nodded. "We'll send word."

"I need you to answer one question, or I'll always wonder." Ichigo studied Toshiro's face, realizing he might get punched for even saying what he was about to. But he really did need to know. "Could you have saved her?"

Toshiro's face turned to stone. He understood the implied question. "I tried. I did everything I could to save her."

"You didn't hesitate? Even for a few seconds?" Ichigo pushed. "Knowing that if she died you could be with her…"

Toshiro's façade cracked enough to show his anger. "First off, I didn't know. In case you've been deaf for the past 10 minutes, or the past three years for that matter, souls loose their memory when they enter Soul Society. I thought her memories would be lost…and they still might be…"

Ichigo was about to comment, but Toshiro held up a hand, and the fierceness in his eyes stopped whatever Ichigo had been about to say. "But even if I knew they wouldn't be…Ichigo…do you think I wanted to watch her die in my arms? Do you think there's anything I wouldn't have done if it could have prevented her dying?" Only anger showed on his face, but his voice and eyes were raw with pain.

Ichigo held his eyes for a second or two, then nodded. "You understand why I had to ask."

Toshiro nodded, all anger gone. "I would have in your place."

"Take care of her." Ichigo replied.

Toshiro said seriously. "With my life."

Orihime sighed at the strangeness of male bonding, and was about to comment when Yuzu and Karin walked out, their father behind them.

"That was fun." Isshin was mumbling. "It's gonna be even more fun when they do the autopsy and find nothing wrong with the body."

"Sorry." Orihime replied meekly.

Isshin sighed. "It's okay. You _were_ trying to save her and all."

"Let's do this." Karin interrupted, smiling bravely.

Isshin slid an arm around each of his daughters. "You're sure this will work?" He asked Urahara, Karin having filled in him briefly on what they were planning.

"No, but it's our best idea." Urahara replied. "Our only idea, actually." He faced Toshiro. "The others are back in Seireitei, probably still bickering about who gets to tell the soutaicho what's been going on."

Toshiro nodded, and turned to Karin. "You're ready?" He reached for Hyorinmaru.

Ichigo stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Let me."

Toshiro nodded in understanding, moving to stand beside Karin as they all watched Ichigo draw Zangetsu and move to stand between his sisters, in front of the chain that dangled on the ground between them.

"This may hurt a little." Toshiro said to Karin as he took her hand. "But once we're in the Senkaimon it should stop hurting. As soon as he cuts the chain, I'm going to pull you onto my back and run. Okay?"

Karin nodded, her brave face still firmly in place.

"Karin…" Toshiro whispered hesitantly, knowing the others could hear him. "Just in case…I wanted to tell you…I lo…"

Karin put her fingers over his lips. "Just in case…I want to remember the first time you say that to me. If I lose my memories…and we can't get them back…I'll just get to fall for you all over again."

Toshiro smiled even as a tear trailed down his face, and he leaned in to kiss her, not caring that everyone was watching. "I won't give up on you, no matter what happens."

"I know." Karin smiled, then turned to Ichigo. "I'm ready."

Ichigo nodded, his eyes closing for a moment before he snapped them open and swung Zangetsu down, severing the chain in a single blow.

Toshiro pulled Karin onto his back, and the two of them vanished into the Senkaimon as Urahara allowed it to close behind them.

"Call me if you need anything." Urahara said after a moment of silence had passed with the four humans doing nothing but staring at the gate.

Isshin nodded to him as he left, then put his hands on Yuzu and Orihime's shoulders. "Let's go back inside. It shouldn't be too long."

Yuzu stumbled as they turned to go in, and Ichigo pulled her up into his arms. "Let's get you back in bed, little sister. I promise we'll wake you up as soon as we hear from them."

"Hime-nee, can you sing to me?" Yuzu mumbled, already half-asleep. Her and Karin had been up late watching a movie, and the adrenaline that had kept her going after being awakened at 2am after less than two hours sleep was gone.

"Of course, Yuzu-chan." Orihime said quietly, holding out her arms. "Do you want me to carry you up, or…" Although Yuzu would be a little heavy for her, Orihime knew she could carry her, and she didn't want to leave Isshin alone.

"No, you and Ichi-nii." Yuzu mumbled, clinging more tightly to her brother.

"It's okay, Orihime-chan." Isshin said quietly as she hesitated in following Ichigo up the stairs. "I'll be better off alone for a few minutes anyway… take care of Yuzu, please."

"I'm sorry I couldn't save Karin." Orihime whispered.

"No one could have." Isshin said, hesitating with his hand on the refrigerator door. "If it hadn't been for what she did, I might have lost both my daughters. And it's odd. I… I'm really not sure how to feel. I mean, she's dead, but she's not. We can see her whenever we want. And she's with Hitsugaya-taicho now, which is what she always wanted."

Orihime watched his gaze flick to the portrait of his late wife. "You knew about her and Toshiro, didn't you?"

Isshin nodded. "As did you."

"I should have said something to you and Ichigo, but…"

Isshin released the fridge's door and crossed to put a hand on Orihime's shoulder. "If Ichigo couldn't sense Hitsugaya's reiatsu around her, that's his fault. I'd say it's also his fault that he didn't notice her go missing for an entire night once a month, but you always made sure he was gone that night."

"I'm sorry." It sounded so insignificant, but it was all Orihime could think of to say.

"She didn't die because she was dating him, and like I said I knew in any case." Isshin said softly before moving back to the fridge. "Now go sing my other daughter to sleep. I know both her and Ichigo will take comfort from your presence."

"Kurasaki-san…"

"I've told you to call me dad." Isshin's face moved from the seriousness that she rarely saw on his face into a beaming-dad expression that looked like it came straight out of a manga, and was much more how she was used to seeing him. "After all, I know you'll be my daughter at some point soon…"

Orihime blushed as she backed away from him. "Um…. Uh… Yuzu-chan!" And she fled the room.

Despite being alone, Isshin allowed himself an affected wail as he stroked a hand over his wife's portrait, allowing himself for an instant to remember the soft feel of her cheek. "It's true that she's not dead, not the way you are. And it spares him from eventually having to make the choice that I did. But I'm still going to miss her."

Isshin allowed himself a moment, then returned his face to a cartoon-like expression as he returned to the fridge and pulled out two beers. Crossing to the table, Isshin sat down, opening one of the beers and taking a long drink as he fixed his eyes on his Masaki.

TBC…..


	2. Time

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet or in books, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: After the Winter War series. Although this is technically an IchiHime fic, and will have more of them than anyone else, there will be parts that focus solely on other couples and characters. (GinRan, ByaRan, HitsuKarin, RenRuk, ShuNa, HinaKira, YoruUra, etc…) I'm sorry if you dislike any particular pairing. And although my other rule, that each story would stand on its own without you having read any of the others, is mostly followed, I will admit you'll get much more out of this if you've read the rest of the series. Timeline-wise this begins around the end of No Warm Memories, which is two years after the end of the War. If you are new to the series, especially if you really like IchiHime, HitsuKarin, RanGin, or ByaRan, I would recommend you read at least that couple's story before reading this one. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter.

* * *

Until the Last Breath

By Lady Callista

Chapter 2 : Time

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out __in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet, __The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."_

_- Jack London_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"What do you want me to sing?" Orihime asked softly as her and Ichigo tucked Yuzu into bed.

"I dunno." Yuzu mumbled, taking hold of Orihime's hand as the older girl sat on the bed.

Orihime smiled slightly. "What about the one your mother always sang?" And in a sweet soprano she began to sing softly.

"_Kirakira hikaru, osora no hoshi yo_

_Mabataki shite wa Minna o miteru _

_Kirakira hikaru, osora no hoshi yo"_

Ichigo slid back into the hallway at the first line, his memory blending Orihime's sweetly light voice in with his mother's deeper alto until he could hear them singing in harmony. And the sound brought tears to his eyes.

Ichigo didn't know how long he had stood in the hallway when Orihime was suddenly in front of him. He glanced a little bit down the hallway and noticed the door to Yuzu and Kar… the door to Yuzu's room was closed.

"I'm sorry." Orihime said softly, resting her forehead on his chest. "But your sisters always like hearing that one."

"How did you know mom always sang that?" Ichigo asked softly, his hands coming to rest lightly on her waist.

"Do you remember when Karin got that really bad fever last spring?" Orihime asked softly, continuing when she felt him nod. "I took my turn sitting with her, and for a little while she… she thought I was your mother. She asked me to sing to her, like I always had when she was little. She hummed a few of the songs, and I figured it out. They, they really like Aiko's Lullaby too, and Oyasumi."

"I know." Ichigo said softly. "But I'm not that good a singer. Sometimes I would sing with mom. Karin and Yuzu loved it when their Ichi-nii would help put them to bed… But I never thought I sounded good, especially compared to her…"

"I'm sorry I couldn't save Karin." Orihime whispered abruptly, cutting him off.

"Hime-chan." Ichigo said softly, running his hands over her back. "There's nothing you could have done. Toshiro was there before you, and even he knew there was no way to save her."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you they were still dating."

Ichigo took a deep breath, trying to calm the sudden whip of violent energy that flared up. "No matter what kind of day we had had, no matter what was going on in the morning, you always wanted to go out on the first of the month. You always kept me away from my house that night. I thought it was some weird thing because we ended the War on the first of a month. Because I saved you on that day. Which didn't make sense to me, but I didn't want to look further. Just like as long as my sister was happy, I didn't want to question the reason. I know if I'd asked outright you would have told me."

"I know you want her happy." Orihime whispered as she pulled back enough to look into his eyes. "We… I just figured you would be happier not knowing."

"She didn't die because she was dating him. In fact I know him well enough to know he was probably against her fighting." Ichigo said softly, continuing to run his hands soothingly up and down her back. "But she was like the rest of us. She couldn't know about problems and not try and fix them. Knowing she had the power to help people, she couldn't not use it. Yuzu always reminds me of mom, but Karin in a lot of ways reminds me of you."

"Ichigo…"

"You're both brave, and strong. And you both care about other people so much more than yourselves. When Karin first told me what her power did, I thought it was really… odd for her." Ichigo admitted, tears still swimming slightly in his eyes. "But then you told me how she felt after mom died. She never told me, didn't want to burden me I realize now, but she never told me that her main wish was for no one to have to worry about her."

"It's hard to know you're a burden to your friends. To your family." Orihime whispered, tears trailing down her cheeks.

"You were never a burden." Ichigo whispered back, leaning in to kiss her gently. His father's earlier words, wondering when he would finally marry Orihime, swirled uncomfortably in the back of his mind. They were only 18! And even though they'd been through so much…

"I love that you never saw me that way." Orihime replied as she broke the kiss to trail a line of kisses down his jawbone and into the hollow of his throat. Then she rose to her tiptoes, leaning in against him to whisper in his ear, "I love you so much."

"I love you more." Ichigo said gruffly, a teasing tone nonetheless showing through in his voice.

"We should go back down." Orihime said as she reluctantly pulled away from him. "See if there's any word yet."

Ichigo nodded, pulling her to him for another brief and tender kiss before taking her hand in his and heading back downstairs. "You'll stay here tonight, won't you?"

"Of course I will."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Up until about two years ago, I always though that Ichigo and Yuzu were like two different parts of you, but Karin never really fit. I could never see you in her. Until she met _him_. Falling in love with a Shinigami, just like her mother had. I don't know if you would be proud or exasperated."

A knock on the door cut of Isshin's monologue to his wife's portrait, and he made sure his trademark maniacal grin was on his face as soon as he sensed who was at the door. "Come in, Ran-chan."

Rangiku entered and closed the door behind her, her eyes scanning the room and pausing on the portrait of Masaki for a moment before she seated herself across from Isshin.

"She's safely there, and she remembers everything." Rangiku said softly, casting her eyes thoughtfully to the second beer in front of him. "But then again, you and I both knew she probably would."

Isshin pushed the second beer across the table to her, watching her open it and take a long drink before setting his face in serious lines and saying softly, "So you are speaking to me, Fukutaicho-san. After earlier, I wasn't sure."

Rangiku graced him with a small smile. "I think I'm still mad at you."

"And where would Seireitei have been two years ago without my son?"

"So, you're a prophet now, are you Isshin?" Rangiku responded to the teasing tone in his voice.

Isshin chuckled darkly. "No, I can't say that had I known how soon I would lose her, I would have given up my life as a Shinigami for Masaki. I think I would have, but anyway… Now I'm the proud father of a boy who saved the world. And despite the fact that my wife and daughter are dead, things seem to have, somehow, worked out all right for almost everyone."

Rangiku took a deep drink, followed by a deep breath, before offering hesitantly, "Hitsugaya-taicho will take care of her. He's a good man. He… he loves her, and would do anything for her." Isshin's total lack of reply caused Rangiku to add, "Although he's not quite as much fun as my last taicho. He's never been the talk of the Friday Night Drinking Group. I think your name would still be legend, if we were not forbidden to speak of you."

Isshin grinned at the tone of her voice. It was partially teasing, partially reminiscing, and partially reminded him of a mother scolding her five-year old. Yet he answered her seriously, "I know he is, or he wouldn't have been seeing her these past two years. And Ran-chan, are you really mad at me? Or do you just miss me?"

Rangiku was silent for a moment, then answered softly, "Of course we all still miss you, Kurosaki-taicho."

"Taicho?" Orihime gasped as her and Ichigo entered the kitchen just in time to hear Rangiku's last sentence.

"So it was the Juubantai, I was kind of curious." Ichigo said as he casually took a seat beside his father at the table. "I take it Karin remembers everything?"

Both adults nodded, although Rangiku looked back and forth between Ichigo and his father in shock. "You never told Ichigo what Division you led?"

"He never even told me he was a taicho." Ichigo said softly as Orihime hesitated behind him before moving around the table to sit across from him. "He also never told me why he isn't anymore."

"And you never asked?' Rangiku questioned in an exasperated tone as she took a long drink of her beer.

Isshin silently got up, reached into the fridge, and set a fresh one in front of her as he sat again.

Ichigo simply shrugged. "I figured he would tell me if he wanted to."

Rangiku laughed all-out as she opened her second beer, nodding appreciatively to Isshin. "Men."

"Yes, I was the Juubantai taicho." Isshin said after a brief pause, taking another drink of his beer to wet the sudden dryness in his throat. "And the reason I'm not anymore is that I fell in love with your mother. I find it somewhat ironic that my successor fell in love with my daughter."

"How long have you known she was seeing him?" Orihime asked softly.

"Since the beginning." Isshin admitted. "I'll admit I had a moment or a hundred of worry, but it was her choice. She knew what he was… she…"

"Dad?" Orihime reached out to put a hand on his arm as his voice radiated pain and trailed off, and the fact that him telling her to call him dad had been flirting on the edge of her consciousness since he first said it made the term slip out without thought. She was so focused on the father that she failed to notice the look of shock on the son's face.

"I'll admit I followed them a few times." Isshin said as he regained control of himself, squeezing Orihime's hand gently before reaching out to finish his beer.

"Never tell her that." Orihime whispered as her cheeks flushed as she imagined some of the things Isshin could have seen if he had followed her and Ichigo.

Ichigo grew pink as well as the same thoughts flashed through his mind, and he asked his father outright, "You don't follow us around, do you?"

Isshin actually laughed. "Nah, you're older. Plus no father ever worries about his son in quite the way that he worries about his daughters."

"So you'll worry about Orihime once she's your daughter?" Rangiku interjected before anyone else could speak. Unlike Orihime, she _had_ noticed Ichigo's reaction when his girlfriend addressed Isshin as 'dad,' and she couldn't resist teasing him.

Orihime and Ichigo both flushed even redder.

"Ran-chan, don't…" Orihime whispered in mortification.

"Well, I would say that I would give my life for her, but I would already do that." Isshin intoned in an overly dramatic fashion, addressing himself to Rangiku. "Plus my son would die for her, and he is ever so much more capable than I am, and… I do wonder when he is going to actually make her my daughter?"

"We… we need to get to sleep." Ichigo suddenly decided, grabbing Orihime's hand and pulling her up the stairs.

"Um… yeah… goodnight." Orihime called out as she allowed Ichigo to pull her from the room.

Both Isshin and Rangiku's eyes followed the teens as they fled, and their eyes then met for a moment as they chuckled. Rangiku looked away first, using her beer as an excuse, and when she looked up she saw Isshin staring wistfully at the portrait of his wife.

Taking another sip of her beer, Rangiku sighed as she turned her gaze to follow his and study the portrait of Masaki. "You never found anyone else?"

Isshin tried to play it lightly. "How many people are willing to put up with someone like me? What about you? A woman as beautiful as you shouldn't be single."

"I'm not single. Exactly. It… It's… complicated." Rangiku said softly as she finished her beer and rose. "I've been hiding it as long as Toshiro's been hiding Karin… But we'll see."

"Still in love with Ichimaru Gin?"

The casualness of the question made Rangiku think that Isshin didn't know just how much she loved Ichimaru, and she laughed humorlessly as she stated. "That's complicated as well. Right up until the end, he claimed to love me. And even though some days I hate him, I think I'm going to love him for the rest of my life. Which doesn't mean I can't find someone else, in fact I have but like I said I can't talk about it, and…"

"For some people there's only one." Isshin said softly. "I'm not saying I've been looking very hard, but no woman has held my interest since Misaki. As I do not think any other woman would capture my son's interest if he loses Orihime."

"Do you think it's wrong that I…"

"There's nothing wrong with falling in love again, Ran-chan." Isshin quietly interrupted her. "Just as there's nothing wrong with not being about to let go. I'm happy for you, and I hope that someday you can introduce me to your new someone."

"I hope for that as well." Rangiku replied. "I hope that as well. Although I should head back now, I… I need to see him."

Isshin cast his eyes to the ceiling for a moment, feeling the closeness of Ichigo and Orihime's reiatsu as they settled into bed together. He imagined his daughter and successor doing the same thing in Seireitei. He pictured Ran-chan returning to the arms of a man who had no face to him, just as he saw Rukia-chan curling up with her Renji. Everyone who had experienced the flow of emotions tonight would want to be with the one they loved.

"Good night, Ran-chan." Isshin said softly. "Don't be a stranger."

"Good night, Kurasaki-taicho." Rangiku said softly as she headed for the door, a quiet command to her headset reopening the Senkaimon in the backyard. "Sleep well, Isshin."

Yet Isshin did not head up to bed after his former fukutaicho had left. Rising briefly to get another beer, he sat in the bright kitchen staring at his wife's portrait. And remembering.

By the time the sun rose, he had come to the conclusion that even if he'd known how short a time they would have, he still would have given up everything for her. Because in his short years with her he had enjoyed life more than he had in his fifty years in Seireitei. Because there was a difference between living and existing.

And although Rangiku had been teasing Ichigo and Orihime when she mentioned them getting married, Isshin wondered how long it would take his son to pop the question. Especially now that he had been reminded how short life could be.

TBC…

* * *

AN2: First off, the song Orihime sings is the Japanese version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

So I know it's never said which Division Isshin led, but by process of elimination it's a fairly small list of possibilities. (And I've heard it debated that the white cloaky-thing over his shoulder isn't a taicho's haori, but I find that a very weak debate.) He can't have led Divisions 1, 4, 5, 8, or 13, because those Divisions start the series with the same taicho that they had 100 years ago. He can't have led Divisions 2, 6, 7, 11, or 12, because we know who the taicho of those Divisions were 100 years ago, and we know the current taicho are those people's direct replacements. So all that is left is either 3, 9, or 10. And as 3 and 9 were Ichimaru and Tosen's Divisions, we are given the impression that they have led those divisions for a long time. Whereas if my theory of how Isshin left Seireitei is true, then he's been on Earth less than 20 years, so we're looking for the newest taicho. It is certainly implied, although I don't think ever explicated stated, that is Hitsugaya, therefore by my logic that was Isshin's Division. It also allows for RanIss cuteness. Please Review, as I've never written a Bleach story balancing this many POVS and just major characters, so input is appreciated.


	3. Little Things

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. The quote at the start of this chapter was actually written by my though, so please don't use it without permission.

Author's Notes: New one-shot in the ATWW series is now up, "Paperwork." It's just a cute, comedic short for ByaRan fans. The next HitsuKarin bit here is dedicated to everyone who reviewed "No Warm Memories," and asked why I didn't write this scene. I actually considered doing it as a one-shot a while back, but it's not really that interesting unless you're familiar with the series. (Oh, and also somewhat recently a HitsuKarin one-shot, called "Absence," did actually go up. It was my answer to a Valentine's challenge from a friend, is set during NWM, and is just a cute little scene.) And since people reviewing this story have been commenting on the plotline with Karin, I figured I should let them know what's going on. I also figured out a way to get lots of cute bits in with other couples, so this chapter has less IchiHime, sorry. (The next part will be almost entirely with them.) I hope you still enjoy it.

* * *

Until the Last Breath

By Lady Callista

Chapter 3 : Little Moments

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_Sometimes it's the little moments that mean the most. I'm all for grand romantic gestures, expensive presents, and making love - don't get me wrong. But sometimes a single look or touch at exactly the right moment says 'I love you' more than anything else. Sometimes the right words, or the smallest thoughtful tokens, are more precious than diamonds. And sometimes falling asleep in someone's arms and knowing you'll wake up the same way is all you need to be happy."_

_~Lady Callista (this was going to be something Rangiku said in "Behind This Mask," but it didn't work in the story, and I loved it too much to never use it.)_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Orihime quietly let herself into Ichigo's bedroom after telling Yuzu that Karin was safely in Soul Society, and that her memories were intact. While she'd been talking to Yuzu, Ichigo had shed his body and flown off to find Chad and Uryu, both to thank them for patrolling and to let them know about Karin. He had figured Urahara-san had his own methods of finding out.

Briefly focusing her senses on Ichigo's body to make sure that Kon was in his plushie in Yuzu's room and not her boyfriend's body, Orihime undressed quickly, helping herself to a pair of Ichigo's boxers and a t-shirt for sleeping. When they were at her place they generally slept naked, enjoying the closeness even on nights that they did nothing but sleep, but she had never felt comfortable sleeping that way at his house. Especially tonight, as she wanted to be able to run to Yuzu if the girl had a bad night.

Turning out the light, she crossed to the bed and cuddled in against Ichigo's body, her thoughts drifting as she awaited his return.

She had apologized to both Ichigo and his father for not being able to save Karin, and they had both said it wasn't her fault.

Orihime knew they were right on one level. She had never blamed Isshin for her brother's death after all, even though he had been the doctor who had been unable to save him. Not everyone could be saved.

And now Karin could be with Toshiro. Which was good and all, but…

Orihime turned away from Ichigo to stare at his nightstand, where she had set her barrettes along with the necklace he had given her before climbing into bed. She thought of the charm bracelet Karin always wore, which was likely sitting on the nightstand in the girls' room, and reminded herself to bring it with her the first time her and Ichigo went to Seireitei to check on Karin. They hadn't spoken of it, but Orihime would be surprised if they didn't go the very next day.

And she was the only one who knew what the bracelet meant to Karin. She had often seen the girl fingering it, and knew it reminded her of her missing love just as Orihime's necklace reminded her of Ichigo when they were apart. Not that they were often apart for more than a day, but the reminder was still nice.

Orihime blinked eyes that were threatening to slid shut as she curled herself back over Ichigo's chest, feeling slightly odd. She had never cuddled with his body when he wasn't in it before, and wondered what he would think when he returned. Yet the fact that she felt slightly weird about it was quickly buried under the comforting, familiar scent and feel of his body, even if the normally pulsing glow of his reiatsu was missing.

Orihime used her own arm to move his until it draped around her back and waist, a few tears making their way down her face as she waited for his return. She vowed to be strong for him when he returned, so she had to get all the tears out of her system before that happened.

She knew how much it hurt him to see her cry, and she knew how much pain he was already in over his sister's loss.

For the first time ever, he had failed to save someone he loved. And she knew just how much that would affect him.

_OoOoO Meanwhile, in Seireitei OoOoO_

"Just go, Renji." Rukia argued as she pulled Rangiku back to the Remembrance Ceremony that had been going on when they left to try and save Karin. "You tell the soutaicho, we're going to go tell some of our friends."

Rukia's glare finally sent a mumbling Renji off to tell Yamamoto about Karin's death and upcoming arrival in Seireitei. And Rukia and Rangiku returned to the party.

"Why am I not surprised to find that this party is still going on?" Rangiku declared as the two women entered the room to find it filled with even more drunk Shinigami than it had been when they left.

Momo rushed over to them at once, pulling Rangiku off to the side. She was one of the few still at the party who was not drunk. "What happened? Did anything happen to…"

Rangiku glanced around to make sure no one could overhear them before whispering back, "Karin… was killed by a Hollow. But her soul stayed on Earth. Toshiro's bringing her through a Senkaimon, likely with all her memories intact."

"Where are they…"

"Probably just coming through the gate now." Rangiku replied softly. "But look uh, don't make a big deal of it tonight. Please, just stay here, tell only the people you have to. I think Karin-chan deserves a little time to adapt to Seireitei, she doesn't need to get pulled into a drunken party."

"I… but…. Okay." Momo tried to protest at first, but finally withered under Rangiku's hard stare.

"Good, thanks." Rangiku whispered as she caught Rukia's eye. The girl came closer, and Rangiku said quietly, "Momo's on board with only telling who we have to. She's known about the two of them for a while, just like I did. I'm going to go back and wait for Toshiro, I'm sure he'll want someone to go tell Ichigo that everything worked out. Can you, um, can you tell _him_ where I went if he's looking?"

As soon as both girls nodded Rangiku flashed away.

Rukia turned to Momo and hissed under her breath, "You knew about this and you didn't tell any of us?"

After doing another check of their surroundings to make sure no one was paying attention to them, Momo hissed back, "And how long did you know about your brother and Rangiku before the rest of us girls did?

OoOoOoOoO

"Be polite, but do not be afraid of him. Answer his questions as directly as you like, there is nothing he can do to keep us apart now. Although it _would_ be preferable if he does not find out."

Karin nodded as Toshiro instructed her softly, glancing around the small waiting-area where they stood side by side, alone. The Shinigami who had escorted them into the office had left to announce them to the soutaicho, and returned just as Toshiro finished speaking, ushering them into the main office.

Toshiro stopped a few paces away from the desk, bowing deeply as Karin copied his actions. "Yamamoto-soutaicho, may I present Kurosaki Karin."

"It's an honor to meet you, Soutaicho." Karin said formally as she rose from her bow, palms sweating lightly as they clutched the hilt of her zanpakuto to her chest.

Yamamoto returned her formal greeting, his eyes fixed on the katana. A small smile graced his lips. "I must inform you that you have set a record for acquisition speed of a zanpakuto, but with your blood I guess I should expect surprises. I'm certain you must be tired, but confess I wanted to meet Kurosaki-san's sister as soon as I was informed of the situation. How are you adjusting?"

Karin gave a small bow, hoping that she could find the courage to start speaking if she wasn't looking into this imposing man's steely eyes. "It's a bit of a shock. And I know the way I came here was…uh… unorthodox. But, but… Yamamoto-soutaicho, I… I want to be a Shinigami."

The Soutaicho chuckled, his eyes again glancing to her zanpakuto. "I would say that is very clear. The next academy classes will begin in a month; I will see your name added. Do you know _her_ name yet? Or what she does?"

"Kyokon." Karin whispered, her cheeks stretching embarrassingly as she had to stifle a yawn in the middle of stating the kanji used to write Kyokon and what she did..

"Fascinating." Yamamoto replied. "But as I said, you just be tired. If you will just wait in the outer room for a moment, I need to speak of a few things with Hitsugaya-taicho, then I will send for someone to get you settled in for the night.

Figuring that 'But I want to stay with Toshiro,' wouldn't be the smart thing to say, it was all Karin could do to thank him as she bowed and left the room.

"You did not arrive in time?" Yamamoto said quietly once the door had closed behind her.

"No, her and… and her father were fighting when we got there. In case you do not recall, she had powers even before the Winter War, and afterwards was trained by Urahara-san. Kurosaki-chan had already been hit, and was on the ground. A healing kido was attempted, and when Inoue Orihime arrived she tried her power as well. It did not work. Kurosaki's chain of fate attached itself to her sister, and it was severed so she could be brought here. I took the liberty of asking my fukutaicho to return to Earth and let Ichigo know that his sister arrived safely."

"Thank you for bringing Kurosaki-chan safely here." Yamamoto said after a moment of silence. He had expected Hitsugaya to explain further, but apparently the boy felt what he had said was enough. "I will see that she is assigned to someone… No, we can't just treat her like any new Shinigami, this is Kurosaki's sister after all. She knows Abarai-fukutaicho I believe…"

"Sir, I would like Ka.. Kurosaki-chan assigned to me." Toshiro spoke up quickly when the soutaicho trailed off. "I will guide her through her introduction to Seireitei and Soul Society."

"Isn't that a bit of a waste of a taicho's time?" Yamamoto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I…" Toshiro trailed off, remembering Renji's whispered words as they had passed in the hallway. The soutaicho did not know he'd been sneaking down to Earth to see Karin, or that he was in love with her. And it might be better all around if he never found out. Although Yamamoto was clever enough that he would probably suspect it within a few days when he discovered they were dating.

"Hitsugaya-taicho?"

Toshiro pulled himself back from his thoughts as something occurred to him. He told the soutaicho honestly, "I promised Kurosaki Ichigo that I would look out for her, and uh, and take care of her."

Yamamoto's eyebrow rose higher. "Hmmm. I always through he was closer to Abarai-taicho and Abarai-fukutaicho…"

It took Toshiro an instant to realize Yamamoto had been talking about Rukia earlier, when he considered assigning Karin to someone she knew.

Rukia and Renji had only been married for a few months, and although Renji had been a taicho for over a year, he had been a fukutaicho much longer. It was hard to make the change in his thinking. Toshiro still wasn't used to hearing his best friend Momo addressed as "Kira-fukutaicho," a title that much like Rukia's made him think of the husband rather than the wife.

A cleared throat made him realize Yamamoto was still waiting for an answer to his question, and Toshiro tried to think of something to say that didn't sound stupid. Finally he simply shrugged as he said, "Who knows what goes on in Kurosaki's head? He asked me, and I promised."

A twinkle in Yamamoto's eyes made Toshiro think the soutaicho knew far more than he was letting on, but the man only said, "Then we will allow you to honor that promise. Kurasaki Karin is in your hands until she reports to the new class of the academy next month."

Toshiro could have sworn the man's eyes twinkled more sharply at what from anyone else he would have considered a double entendre. "Thank you, sir." He bowed quickly, hoping he would be allowed to leave now, before more questions were asked that he didn't want to answer.

"You are dismissed, Hitsugaya-taicho." Yamamoto said as the younger man rose from his bow. "Be certain to take good care of her. I would rather _not _have an upset Kurosaki Ichigo tearing through my city again. Once was enough."

"Understood, sir." Toshiro said as he turned to leave. Then a thought occurred to him, and to turned back to say quietly, "Although Ichigo will likely be visiting often for the next few months."

Yamamoto sighed, and made a note on the scroll that sat on his desk. "I'll increase the repair budgets of all the divisions for when Kenpachi-taicho goes after him."

Toshiro bowed again and left the room.

OoO

A short while later Toshiro lay in his bedroom, Karin sleeping peacefully in his arms. Although once or twice when he had been down on Earth to visit her she had fallen asleep in his arms, that was very different than deliberately going to sleep together. Very different than knowing they could wake together, not wake in separate rooms that were literally worlds apart. So Toshiro lay quietly, watching her dream, his fingers trailing very lightly up and down her back. He couldn't get enough of touching her. "It hurt so much to see you die." He breathed more than spoke, the fingers that were not trailing over her back linking with her own where her hand lay on his chest. "But selfish as it is, it's hard for me to regret the fact that now we have forever to be together."

In a house not far away, Momo lay curled into a ball with her sleeping husband wrapped around her back. It had taken him nearly 10 minutes to convince her not to go to Toshiro that night, with the winning argument finally being simply that they should be able to spend some time together in private before everyone in Seireitei knew that Kurosaki's little sister was here, and that she was dating a taicho. The two would likely have very little peace after that. Still, it was hard on Momo to not run to her best friend. To not run to the man who had been so instrumental in helping her with her own love life now that his looked like it would finally work out. Twisting her head to kiss Izuru's shoulder, the only part of him she could reach, Momo whispered, "I'm so happy. Now he can be with the person he loves, just like I was able to be."

In his rooms of the sanbantai barracks, a shirtless Renji cuddled with Rukia. They had decided they were too tired to go across town to their rooms in the Kuchiki mansion. "Were Ichigo and I the only ones who didn't know about those two kids?" When Rukia only mumbled and shook her head, he tried a different question. "Did you ever think Hitsugaya would sneak around in a relationship like that?" Mostly asleep, Rukia whispered something that caused his eyes to pop out of his head for an instant before he chuckled, realizing she had to be dreaming. "You silly midget." He whispered gently as he kissed her on the top of the head. "You want everyone around you to be happy, even if it means you have to invent relationships for them." Still laughing inside at the image of his retrained, nobleman ex-taicho dating one of his best drinking-buddies, Renji kissed Rukia again as he settled back to sleep. "That's one of the things I love about you."

A block from their home near the hachibantai barracks, Nanao dragged Shunsui down the street, trying to ignore the somewhat sweet love song he was mumbling drunkenly in her ear. A flash of her steely eyes or a quick _thwrap_ of her fan discouraged any of the drunken Shinigami still running around partying from approaching them. She tried to keep her thoughts up-beat, after all the party hadn't gone nearly as badly as the one the year before. There had been less drunken fighting, and no bankai being released had to be considered a plus as well. And at least this year her lovely husband was conscious enough to walk down the street, instead of being dragged behind her with kido. And whenever he was this drunk, he was a magnificent cuddler. Shunsui proved that the instant they were in their bedroom, pulling her down onto the bed still dressed, holding her tenderly in his arms. He was passed-out within a minute, and Nanao let out a light chuckle as she set her glasses on the bedside table before cuddling back into him. "I hope that, like Kurosaki-chan, I get to be with the one I love in my next life. Although I do wish you would drink a little less in that next life. "

In a mansion on the edge of Seireitei, Rangiku fell asleep in Byakuya's arms. Whether it had been her tirade about how tired she was having to hide their relationship, him having a weird reaction upon finding out about Karin's death and worrying about _her_ dying, or something else that she couldn't guess at, she was content with the fact that their relationship would soon be public. She had been amazed to find him waiting for her after her second trip of the night to Karakura Town, and even more amazed when he had said it was time to let people know about them. But she certainly wasn't going to complain. Feeling that he was already asleep, she whispered softly the words she had never been able to say to him when he was awake. "I love you."

Down on Earth, Kisuke slid a pillow under Yoruichi's head, tucking a blanket lightly around the passed-out woman. She had barely been sober enough to make it through the Senkaimon, as the troubles in Karakura Town had been forgotten by most of the Shinigami at the Remembrance Ceremony as soon as the four ranking Shinigami and the humans had left. Still, drunk enough that a shunpo had knocked her into his door instead of landing her gracefully on the porch, she had wanted him to know Karin was okay. She had stumbled into the main room, murmuring something about 'glad to see Hitsugaya and Karin together after sneaking around for so long,' and 'hoping Ran-chan tells him she loves him eventually.' Kisuke planned to investigate the second part of that statement in the morning, as he knew Rangiku hadn't been planning on telling Hitsugaya that, but didn't have a clue as to who she was talking about. For now though, he simply laid a light kiss on Yoruichi's forehead, something he never would have dared to do when she was awake. And he whispered softly, "It's not that easy to tell someone you love them. Especially if you think they don't feel the same way."

Across town, Ichigo slid back into his body, amused that his girlfriend was already asleep in his arms. Inhaling the sweet strawberry scent of her hair as he held her close, Ichigo felt a single tear trail down his cheek as her comforting reiatsu enfolded him. He felt his father, still downstairs, his reiatsu sad but calm. He felt Yuzu in the next room, apparently sleeping peacefully. And he tried to start getting himself used to the fact that Karin was no longer there. He heard Orihime mumble his name in his sleep, and hugged her a little tighter for an instant as he whispered, "I'm here, Hime. And I always will be."

* * *

TBC….

AN2: I kinda feel like the end of this part fits in better with a soap opera than an anime. (I actually wrote the last two first, and the style just stemmed from there.) You know what I mean if you've ever seen it - the last four minutes of a Friday episode there will be a lovely little montage to some romantic song as they flip through various couples being cute together and/or making love. Then there's some major cliffhanger event a second or two before the screen goes blank. I was nice and didn't do the cliffhanger. Please Review. I'm really intereted in what people thought, especially of the views of all the couples. (especially the one I hinted at that I've never hinted at in any of my stories)


	4. Pieces

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet or in books, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: _Domo arigato gozaimasu _to everyone who has reviewed this story: I thank you so much for all of your compliments. It has been hard to balance the various couples/characters, and I know it will get much harder in future chapters. I will try my best to keep this an IchiHime focused story, but as I'm also using it as a sort-of epilogue to the series I apologize if I end up focusing on couples/characters that you dislike. I've been told my many people that "I didn't like X/Y until I read your story, but…" That statement tends to always end with either "I love them now." or "You write them so well that (I can deal with them.) or (I am falling in love with them.)" In some ways, those 2nd kind of comments are the most rewarding reviews of all. So, yes, thanks to all my reviewers. Enjoy. This chapter is all IchiHime, and contains lemonish material. (slightly, uh, harsher than I normally write, just to warn you.) Ichigo's hollow speaks in italics cause that's how all the inner-selves of people in my series speak, so when he is manifested his words will be italicized. And anything that is happening in Ichigo's head between him and his hollow will also be in italics, just to make reading this a bit easier, as it jumps around between perspectives a bit. Sorry if this sudden dive into character depth and angst seems a bit odd, but this is supposed to be an IchiHime story after all, and now that the action is done, for the moment at least, I can deal with the repercussions…

_**Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to all my loyal readers (you know who you are, I've already thanked you personally) who always take the time to review and tell me what they liked, and didn't like. **_

_**

* * *

**_

Until the Last Breath

By Lady Callista

Chapter 4 : Pieces

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"To love someone means you love the whole package, not just the pieces you choose"_

_~anonymous_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

He could swear that for a moment he was somewhere else, somewhere more real, feeling Orihime's soft body held within his embrace.

_Ichigo opened his eyes to find himself standing on the side of a building, surrounded by an all too familiar washed-out world. He only had an instant to wonder what old man Zangetsu wanted to teach him or yell at him about this time before he saw the white figure._

_Ah, kuso!_

"_Wow, King. I suppose you succeed so often, sometimes at what others say is impossible, that for things to balance out your failures have to be of epic proportion as well." The taunting voice of his Hollow said as soon as he saw it._

"_I wasn't even there." Ichigo snarled back._

"_I know." The hollow replied with a smirk. "Off partying while your little sister gets herself killed doing your job; you certainly deserve to be big brother of the year!"_

"_I asked her time and again not to fight Hollows… I…" Ichigo trailed off as the hollow laughed. "We just couldn't get there in time."_

"_Oh no, don't lump me in with you." The oddly echoing voice replied. "You could have moved so much faster through the gate if you had used me. If you'd changed… But no, you just ignore me now. As you've been doing for the past year and a half. You forget that I am part of what makes you strong."_

"_Kuso! You may increase my shunpo speed, and shit like that, but you can't run much faster than I can. And all you can do in a gate is run!" Although Ichigo's voice showed his anger, it also showed a bit of doubt._

"_And would that little bit have made a difference?"_

"_No!" Ichigo's resolve was growing weaker by the second, and his doubt showed in his voice. "There's no way it could have… The other Shinigami got there before us, and even they couldn't… Dad was right there, and…"_

"_So just chalk it up to fate?" The hollow taunted mercilessly. "She's dead now and it was meant to be?" _

"_Oh, fuck you." Ichigo replied, getting more pissed off even as a small part of him wondered if it was true. If he had hollowfied, could he have gotten there in time? "Don't try to make me feel bad for not talking to you. For not using you. You…" No. No matter the reason, he never wanted that bastard in control again. _

"_You needed me to save Orihime." The figure taunted. "You would both be dead without me. And the entire world would be gone."_

"_I would have found a way." Ichigo screamed, although the doubt was obvious in his voice. His thoughts were rapidly spiraling downward as his own self-doubts were voiced by his hollow form, and he felt himself losing ground. He wouldn't have found a way, and he knew it. Without his hollow manifesting, he would be dead. And Orihime likely would be as well._

"_You were DEAD!"_

"_Oh just shut the hell up and leave me the fuck alone!" With nothing constructive left to argue, Ichigo screamed at his darker half, and the desperation and doubt in Ichigo's voice were his undoing. _

"_Fine, stay here and wallow in your own failure." Seizing the advantage, and exploiting the hole his rocketing emotions left in his control, Ichigo's inner Hollow fully manifested._

_Ichigo watched the scene unfold as if it were a play, finding it odd that for once he was the understudy, the one waiting in the background, and not the star. And as the scene went on he went from finding it odd to being absolutely terrified._

Orihime woke with a jolt as Ichigo's reiatsu both expanded exponentially and grew darker in a single instant.

"Ichigo?" She questioned softly, not recognizing that his arms were vised around her much more tightly than was normal.

"_Mine." _His voice was close to a growl, and as his arms tightened around her Orihime woke-up fully, immediately realizing that something was wrong.

"Ichigo-kun?" Orihime asked hesitantly, both the tone of his voice and the feel of his reiatsu letting her know it was not really her boyfriend who was in control.

"_I love you." _He was changing even as the words were spoken, so that most of them echoed in the voice that was unique to his hollow. His full hollow mask formed over his face.

"Ichi…"

The mask seemed to waver for an instant, and when he leaned down to kiss her Orihime gasped before opening her lips under his forceful kiss.

"_He's always so gentle…" _

Orihime registered the mocking, disdainful tone of the last sentence, but whatever comment she might have made cut off with a moan as Ichigo's inner hollow stopped disparaging his other self and closed his lips over the pulse point on her throat as he added, _"Don't you ever wish he wouldn't be?" _

A hand grasped one of her breasts slightly roughly, squeezing and molding it like it was clay, and he leaned down to kiss her again, swallowing a gasp that came much more from pleasure than pain. Although when his lips slid down from her own and he bit one of her nipples through the cotton of the shirt she was wearing, her gasp turned a little more to the pain side of things.

"Ichigo…" She gasped, wondering if she would be able to help him change back, as she had the three times he had changed before. But those times he had been concerned with protecting her; this time he just seemed to _want_ her. And although he was being far rougher than she was used to, he wasn't _really_ hurting her. Instead she felt a fire slowly building in her veins, and wondered if she should feel bad about that.

"NO!" Ichigo's voice came with a gasp as his hollow mask resonated and started to crack.

"Ichigo, it's…." Orihime's voice was breathy, "It's okay. He's not hurting me."

"No! Not like this…" Ichigo cursed as he regained control for a moment, forcing himself to slid away from her and rising quickly from the bed to stare out the window at the sun that was just starting to rise, the hollow mask fluctuating around his face like a badly malfunctioning hologram. "Run. Get away from me, please!"

"You know he'll just follow me." She said softly, rising from the bed and crossing to the window to stand behind him. "He's just part of you… and I know you would never hurt me."

"Hime…" Ichigo whispered desperately, "You don't understand… you can't. You haven't heard his thoughts; you don't know what he wants."

"At the moment, he wants me." Orihime said softly, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his bare shoulder-blade before pillowing her head on his back. "It's kinda humbling to realize how much he wants me."

"No more than I do…" Ichigo whispered, turning in her arms to kiss her gently. "But…"

That was as far as he got before he felt himself being wrenched away again. Yet his hollow didn't manifest itself and go after Orihime this time.

_Instead it stood among the buildings, anger on its face and a sword naked in its hand._

_Content in the knowledge that his body was still for the moment, Ichigo faced off with his inner demon. "You claim to love Orihime, right?" Ichigo yelled._

"_Claim?" The hollow snarled the word as he attacked. "I do love her. In fact, if I remember correctly, the first time you told her you loved her was after you told her that _I _loved her."_

"_So you want to protect her?" Ichigo snarled back as their zanpakuto crossed. "You never want her to be sad, right? You want her happy?"_

"_Of course." The hollow screamed at him. "She's everything!"_

"_She would have cried if you had killed Ishida."_

_The hollow stopped screaming, and froze with his sword half-raised to attack again._

"_She would have cried, because she would have blamed herself for his death. That's why I'm afraid to let you out!" Ichigo said passionately. "She would have cried, because she would have blamed herself for the man she loved turning into a bloodthirsty monster!"_

"Ichigo-kun?" _Orihime's voice floated through the silent world the two of them were locked into, and neither questioned that they could hear her voice even though everything else going on in the outside world was lost to them._

"_She doesn't think I'm a monster!" The hollow cursed loudly, and Ichigo felt the world around him shift as his hollow regained control, and for a painful moment he was again cursed with only being able to watch what was going on. "She loves all of you, which means she loves me!"_

"Ichigo-kun?" Orihime had just finished saying his name a second time when his eyes snapped open and the hollow mask re-solidified.

"_No, not your Ichi-kun, princess." _The hollow replied as his hands tightened their grip on her hips and he slowly moved forward until he had backed her against the wall.

Although her eyes widened slightly as his hips pinned her to the wall and his hands grasped her own before lifting them over her head, Orihime's voice was calm as she said, "How are you hurting him? What are you saying to him that he's lost enough control to let you out?"

"_Maybe I just wanted you enough to get out on my own."_

"You haven't manifested in a year and a half." Orihime said softly, even as one of his hands began to trail over her body while the other continued to pin her wrists over her head. His lips returned to the pulse in her neck, kissing and laving her before he bit down just hard enough to make her cry out softly, all thoughts flying from her mind.

"_Hime." _

Orihime's face scrunched up as she tried to concentrate on what she wanted to ask, and she tried to ignore the magic his hands were working on her body. Although the hands and lips cruising over body were far harder and rougher than Ichigo had ever been, they weren't hurting her, and she wasn't scared of him.

Instead, she found herself thrilled with the dark knowledge that he wanted her so much he didn't care about being gentle. She knew it was the Hollow in control, but she knew that of all people she had nothing to fear from this part of him. And a small part of her that was both embarrassed and ashamed reveled in the reckless passion he was showing.

They had been sleeping together for over a year and a half, yet despite the passions she occasionally caught a glimpse of in his eyes, he had always been a very tender and cautious lover, treating her like she was some precious heirloom that would break if it was touched too harshly.

Now his fingers pulled off her borrowed t-shirt carelessly as one hand kneaded her breast, and he kissed her deeply as soon as her head was clear of the shirt. Then his hand slid from her chest to rub slightly roughly against her clit, still covered by the boxers she had borrowed, and Orihime shuddered against him as she gasped, "Ichigo."

"_See, monster my ass!" Ichigo's hollow shouted as he ran his hands over Orihime's body. "She loves you…me… us. She knows you won't…. She knows I won't hurt her."_

"_She's too innocent to understand what you want!" Ichigo screamed into the air, finding it very disconcerting to be on this side of the conversation. He was used to being in control of his body and having to deal with a voice in his mind. He was not used to being the voice while someone else was controlling his body._

"_You think so?" The hollow tormented Ichigo. "You think she doesn't have passions to match our own? And if by some miracle she doesn't, she still won't hate us."_

"_She would if you had killed her friend!" Ichigo refuted, going back to the point that he had been going to make before the conversation derailed. He railed against being a prisoner in his own mind while he watched the hollow kissing and touching Orihime._

"_She was in danger!"_

"_We had already saved her." Ichigo retorted. "Ulquiorra was basically dead, and…"_

"_We had to make sure!"_

"_And that's why you're dangerous!" Ichigo screamed. He had to regain control of his body before the hollow did anything else, yet for some reason he couldn't force himself through to the surface. Ichigo wasn't afraid his hollow would physically hurt Orihime, not intentionally anyway, but what he was doing could hurt her in a different way. "You have no conscience! No stopping point! You would do anything to protect her!"_

"_And you wouldn't?"_

_Taken aback by the question, Ichigo searched his heart for the answer, and a way to explain it that the hollow would understand. _

The hollow took the opportunity provided by the silence in his head to lower his lips to Orihime's chest as he fell to his knees in front of her, using the movement to slid the boxers down to pool at her ankles.

Orihime shuddered, biting her lip to keep from crying out as his fingers played skillfully with the wet heat he had just revealed. She felt like her entire body was on fire, and couldn't believe she had become so aroused so quickly. Yet she could feel the conflict going on within her lover's body. She could feel Ichigo fighting against this, and a harshly grunted comment from Tsubaki made her regain her senses for a moment as her only aggressive flower reminded her of what she had tried to ask before. "What are you doing to him?"

"_Making love to you like he wants to but doesn't have the balls to."_

Orihime was speechless for a moment, and he actually stopped his arousing torment for long enough to look into her eyes, as if her response was important to him.

She _knew_ it was important to him when she paused for too long before answering, and he prodded, _"I'm not hurting you, am I? You want this as badly as I do."_

"You're not hurting me, no." Orihime whispered, hesitantly raising her hands to cup his face through the mask. If nothing else, she knew that Ichigo could hear what she was saying, and she wanted to make sure he knew she was okay. "But I want to know what you're doing to him. How did you force yourself through?"

"_He failed to save someone he loved. He's worried that maybe I could have."_

Without thinking of the consequences, Orihime slapped him across the cheek. "You bastard! He's upset enough that he couldn't…"

A harsh growl made her trail off as he suddenly rose to his feet, towering over her menacingly. _"What if it had been you?" _The hollow hissed as his hands clutched her shoulders harshly. _"He won't even let me out now if you're in danger! He learned to suppress me, to hide me away like a dirty little secret. He won't even let me protect the people we love!"_

"Hollows can love?"

The echoing growl was even darker this time. _"Are you questioning that I love you?"_

Orihime gasped as his hands slid down to her hips, pulling her body fully against him as he captured her lips in a bruising kiss. His hands slid around to cup her ass as his tongue forced its way into her mouth, and she could feel his length pressed hard against her stomach.

The arousal that had been simmering through her since his first kiss flashed back to life, although this time she couldn't completely suppress her fear.

Normally she loved how strong he was, it both made her feel safe and gave her dreams of being a damsel in distress protected by her strong knight. She loved being swept up in his arms. She loved that he could hold her like she weighed nothing, and shunpo around town with her on his back, making her feel like she was flying. She loved how his arms would occasionally lock around her so strongly that she knew she couldn't get away unless he let her.

And for the first time ever, she didn't trust that he would let her.

TBC...

* * *

AN2: So the cliffhanger I was nice enough not to write in the previous chapter appears here, as I didn't expect this part to run nearly this long, but it just kinda took on a mind of its own. Although if you have read enough of my stories you should know not to be too worried. Also, I almost never swear in fanfic, and I think I used the f* word alone more times in this story than in all my other stories put together, but I couldn't write Ichigo's hollow without it. Sorry if it bothered anyone, as I know you're not used to strong language in my stories. That said, thanks again to all my readers, and I hope you enjoyed this (slightly odd) chapter. And while compliments are always nice, please remember that I take constructive criticism very well. If I make a mistake, in grammar/spelling or (my world's version of) cannon, please tell me. I would much rather you tell me than have 1,000 other people read it and think I'm an idiot. On that note, thank you to chuchootrain for letting me know that my entire chapter 3 of this story had "Kurasaki." It's actually an amusing story involving my roommates and an early April Fool's joke of changing words in my personal dictionary, which is huge since I write anime fanfic, into other things that were close enough that I wouldn't notice them while I was writing, but… Anyway, the chapter is now fixed, thanks again chuchootrain


	5. Touch

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet or in books, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: Sorry for the cliffhanger everyone, especially as it took me longer to get this part out than I wanted it to. (I've actually been trying to post this for almost a week, but kept getting an error message. Grrr.) Although like I said you have to know by now that you'll always get a happy ending out of me. (Ran/Gin not withstanding, but I'm actually working on that at the moment…) Leave it to me to put a Hollow through therapy. Lemon warning again for this part, again a little harsher than normal for me, but not in a bad way. The lemon is the reason this part took so long, I just couldn't get the right mix of Ichigo and his hollow. As such, this is somewhat tamer than I had planned, cause apparently I just can't write too harsh a lemon. Oh well. Enjoy, and please continue to review.

* * *

Until the Last Breath

By Lady Callista

Chapter 5 : Touch

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_I want you to be the one that is only known by me. All the wonderful things are inside your smile that no one else can touch. The real you is just like a cipher."_

_-from "Beyond," Chobits soundtrack, Minoru and Yuzuki's theme_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"No, I…" Orihime gasped as the hollow currently controlling Ichigo's body licked a line down her own until he knelt at her feet. One hand held her tightly to the wall while the other cupped her calf muscle and slowly pulled her leg up over his shoulder. "I know you love me, but…"

"_But?" _The voice echoed teasingly as he licked his way up her inner thigh, causing her breath to catch on a sexy moan. _"But what, Hime?" _

"But I don't want to be with you if I know you're hurting him!" Orihime gasped as his lips closed over her clit, and she knew she would have surrendered, yet to her surprise he pulled away from her as the Hollow mask began to fluctuate again.

_Ichigo thought furiously as his Hollow suddenly froze, withdrawing from Orihime while still keeping her pinned to the wall. "I once told Orihime that I would do anything to protect her. Is that what you're talking about?"_

"_You swore to her! And to yourself!"_

"_And I meant it, but not the way you understood it!" Ichigo screamed, every instinct in his body screaming at him as he tossed Zangetsu away. "'Anything' has a different meaning to me than it does to you. You don't have a conscience! You have no respect for human life! Even if someone was directly threatening Orihime, I wouldn't kill them unless I didn't have a choice. It's different with Hollows, they're already dead and I'm helping them to move on! But humans…"_

"_So you want me to value human life?" The hollow taunted. "But I want you buried under your emotions, so that I can be King. So that I can have the Princess."_

"_You'll only make your princess cry!" Ichigo screamed. "Ask her. Ask her how she would feel if you had killed Ishida to keep her safe!"_

Orihime blinked in surprise as half of the hollow mask broke away, leaving him in the more familiar mask she had seen on him for years. The one he had learned to control.

Everything about his body language gentling a little bit, Ichigo rose slowly to his feet and drew her against his chest gently. Yet the voice that came from him was that of his hollow. _"He thinks you can explain it better than he can. Why would you have cried if I had killed the Quincy to protect you?"_

Orihime stiffened in his embrace. "You know how you would die for me, right? How you would die to keep anything bad from happening to me?"

The hollow nodded into her shoulder.

"How would you feel if I died to keep you safe?"

"_That's not your job!" _

Orihime chucked despite the situation she was in. "I don't love you any less than you love me. I would die for you, just like you would for me. And you know I would cry if you died for me. But I would cry if anyone else died for me as well. Because as much as you want to keep everyone you love safe, that's what I want too! Just because I'm not as strong as you doesn't mean I can't want the same thing!"

"_Hime…"_

"I love Ichigo, and you're part of him so I love you. But it's not safe for you to be in control unless you listen to Ichigo. There are so many things you could do that would hurt him, or hurt me. You just don't understand how we think. I'm not sure if you can." Orihime said it softly, gently, but made sure that every word she said would be heard.

"_If I promise to listen to him, can you get him to let me out every once and a while? Only with you if you want, and I promise to listen to you as well." _The hollow asked softly as he felt her tears wetting his chest. _"And can I stay out tonight? I still want…"_

Orihime pulled back from him enough to cup his face gently. "Ichigo? I'm okay with it if you are."

"You still don't understand what he wants." Ichigo whispered, voice not as certain as it had been the first time he spoke those words to her. He had seen how she reacted to the hollow's passions, and wondered if the hollow hadn't been right when he said she had passions to match even his deepest desires.

Orihime smiled softly. "I love you, and I love making love with you. But I'm not made out of glass. I want you tonight. I want whatever you want."

His hand clenched on her hips, squeezing harshly as he shifted until his own hips again pinned her against the wall. "I can't say I don't want this too, but I was always afraid it would scare you. Hurt you. I…"

Orihime shuddered in his arms as he kissed her deeply, pushing hard enough that she had to open her lips to not have his teeth rip into them. "Kurosaki-kun." She whispered raggedly when he finally drew back so that she could breath.

"Oi?" His eyes already shifting from brown back to gold, but it was Ichigo's confused voice that answered her.

"If I call you Kurosaki-kun, it means I want my human Ichigo back. If I call you Kurosaki-kun, it means you're doing something I don't like."

"_And what are you going to call me?"_

"You're Ichigo, too. Can't I call you that?"

"_Hime." _His lips crushed down on hers again, and this time when he lowered himself to his knees and lifted her leg over his shoulder, closing his lips over her clit once again, her only response was to arch her back and moan.

Orihime's hands flew to his shoulders for balance as he sucked on her firmly, his tongue constantly flicking back and forth at the same time. Gasping, she was about to call out his name when she remembered they were not alone in the house. A focused flash of her reiatsu, when she managed to focus for a second, activated the kido net that had long ago been cast around Ichigo's room.

The original idea had been for the net to keep her safe at night when he was gone. It completely hid from sight, sound, and reiatsu detection anyone who was within it. If no one knew she was there, no one would be able to find her and hurt her. It was similar to the spell Isshin had used that night to hide Yuzu from detection while the fight was going on. While still used for the original idea behind it, the teens had discovered it was wonderful for when they wanted to make love there. Isshin, and likely Karin, would have sensed that the spell was there, but both had likely realized it was probably a good thing.

Ichigo tensed for a second as the kido flared, but obviously recognized what she had done when she moaned his name loudly a moment later. _"I should have thought of that, but it's not even keyed to my reiatsu the way it is now. But this means I'm free now to make you scream my name as loudly as I want you to."_

Orihime blushed, wondering if she had been telling the truth earlier. She did sometimes wish that Ichigo would be more passionate with her, but she had always been too embarrassed to say anything. She had always told herself she was embarrassed because she didn't want him to think she was a slut or something if he didn't want the same thing. But as his hands grabbed hers from his shoulders and pinned them against the wall at her sides before his head dove back between her legs, Orihime wondered if she could really do this. Did she really want this brash, forceful lover instead of her sweet, tender one? Could she really handle what he wanted? A harsh bite at her inner thigh had her gasping and looking down at him.

The instant her eyes met his Ichigo sucked hard on her most sensitive part as he shoved two fingers up deep inside of her.

Orihime exploded, screaming his name as her vision went white and her legs turned to jelly.

Ichigo caught her weight as she fell, allowing her barely a minute to recover before he got them both to their feet and abruptly spun her around until she faced the wall. He braced her forearms against it, then one hand fell to her breast, squeezing the nipple so tightly it hurt. Orihime was about to tell him to stop when his other hand gripped her hip brusingly and he slammed the full length of himself into her.

She was wet, oh so wet, but still incredibly tight. Ichigo and his hollow both groaned at the feeling, for he had never done this before. His first thrust had never been so fast, or so deep. And he had never shoved his way into her when she was so tight, when her inner walls were still fluttering from a previous orgasm. He had always worried about hurting her, because he wasn't exactly small.

But although she trembled, what fell from her lips was not a sound of pain or protest, but the most arousing moan he had ever heard.

He began pounding into her, not stopping till both of them slid to the floor in a spent heap.

Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. The word kept spinning around in Orihime's mind as she lay collapsed on the ground, still connected to the lover she lay on top off. How had she thought she couldn't do this? Why had she found in embarrassing to ask to be taken like this? Why had she worried about showing him the part of her that wanted to be possessed, craved, and overpowered?

She barely registered it when he picked her up and laid her on the bed, but she immediately turned on her side and curled up into a ball, sighing when he curled up behind her and pulled her into his arms.

"I promise I'll try to get you let out more often." Orihime whispered, and he could feel her reiatsu change as she began to drift off to sleep.

"_Oh, princess." _He chuckled darkly as he slid into her from behind, the arms he had wrapped around her suddenly tightening on her breasts. _"The night's just getting started."_

_OoO The next morning, in Seireitei OoO_

"What in the world is going on?" Ichigo asked as soon as they got within a few blocks of the juubantai barracks, which they assumed was the most likely place to find Karin.

"I have no idea." Orihime said as another wave of applause and shouts of congratulations washed over them.

Both increased their pace unconsciously, just as they were unconscious of the fact that the huge group gathered around the practice field shifted to allow them to move up to the front, until they stood right behind Karin.

Hitsugaya Toshiro stood in the middle of the field. Matsumoto Rangiku knelt at his feet, looking exhausted, and holding the hand of a proud looking and smiling Byakuya…

Wait… WHAT?

Not noticing that her boyfriend's brain had apparently short-circuited, Orihime simply smiled as she joined in the applause. She remembered Rangiku's comments to her, years ago, about liking a guy who was even more emotionless and uptight than her own taicho, and Orihime couldn't think of anyone who fit that description better than Kuchiki Byakuya.

Right as Ichigo was going to attempt to say something, although his jaw was still hanging open, Rangiku and Byakuya got to their feet just as Toshiro spoke.

"I'm fairly certain there will be a party tonight, so I'm just going to give the whole division tomorrow off."

The applause roared up again, and this time Ichigo found his voice. Leaning over, and surprising the hell out of his sister, he asked, "Just what the hell is going on up here?"

"Ichi-nii!" Karin's squeal of surprise was mostly swallowed by the crowd around them, but neither brother or sister paid them any attention as, contrary to their normal personalities, they hugged tightly.

"Karin-chan." Orihime's gentle voice caused another uncharacteristic squeal, and soon the hug became three-sided.

None of them noticed when Rangiku and Byakuya walked off the field hand in hand after speaking with Toshiro for a moment, and none of them could say how long he had been standing behind them before he spoke softly.

"Kurosaki-san. Orihime-san." Toshiro said softly after he had watched them hold Karin for a moment. "I can't say I'm surprised to see you here today."

The three drew apart at his voice, although Ichigo kept an arm around Karin's shoulder. "Toshiro."

"That was fun to watch." Renji commented as he and Rukia made their way up to the small group. "Might have been more fun to see Kuchiki really get his ass kicked, but…"

"What's going on?" The frustration was obvious in Ichigo's voice.

"Ran-chan just achieved bankai." Rukia said with a smirk. "Which is something to celebrate, and is awesome, but that might almost be secondary to her at this point. Because unless I'm mistaken, which I really don't think I am or I wouldn't say this, her relationship with my brother just became public knowledge, which must mean that somehow he got the family to agree, which means there should be another wedding up here soon, and…"

"Wait, WHAT?"

Rukia laughed at the incredulous look on Ichigo's face. "Let's go have lunch. We can explain everything then."

"Lunch is waiting at my rooms in the barracks." Toshiro said softly. "I assumed we would have company today. There is enough for all six of us."

Renji and Rukia nodded, following him back towards his rooms. Orihime and Karin, each leading a still dazed Ichigo by the hand, followed a few steps behind.

OoO

Nearly an hour later, after an excellent lunch, Orihime sat on the edge of the juubantai practice field. Karin sat on one side of her, and Rukia on the other. The practice field was empty except for Ichigo and Renji, as no one else wanted to be near them when they were fighting, even if they were only practicing. Toshiro had returned to his office to catch up on some work, promising them that he would only be an hour or so.

Karin happily fingered the charm bracelet Orihime had brought her, her mind drifting at first as the older girls chatted.

"I just can't get over how happy I am for Rangiku-chan." Orihime smiled happily as she munched on a red-bean paste mochi. "You really think they'll get married soon?"

Rukia caught the wistful tone in her friend's voice, but wasn't sure how much she would be comfortable discussing in front of Karin. "I'm sure they will. There's no way he would have dared to hold her hand in public, or look at her with love, unless he had gotten the family to approve."

Orihime's smile turned more dreamy as she imagined the last of her friends finally being given to the man she loved, which brought a sudden frown to her face. "But who'll give her away?"

"Give her… huh?" Rukia cocked her head in confusion.

"Give her away." Orihime repeated. "Um, the way your brother did for you. Walk you down the aisle, give your hand to your husband…"

"That's normal in the human world?" Rukia questioned, leaning to see around Orihime just in time to see Karin and her both nod in unison.

"Well, yeah." Karin responded slowly. "It's not here?"

"No, only the nobles do it up here." Rukia responded. "It shows that your family supports your marriage. I will do the same for my brother, although in that case I will lead his bride down the aisle to him."

"You?" Karin asked.

Rukia nodded. "None of the elders in the family are from the main branch. Only nii-sama, and me by blood adoption, are. Renji is only married in. Although he would become the Kuchiki prince if something were to happen to my brother, unless that happens I still outrank him by blood. And the ranking member of the family, or the second-ranking if the highest is the one being married, always escorts the bride to her groom."

Had Ichigo been listening to the conversation, he likely would have commented on how he would pay money to see Renji give Byakuya away. But at the moment he was busy trying to pound Renji's face into the dirt.

"Yo, Ichigo, you been slacking on practice or what?" Renji shouted as he appeared behind Ichigo, almost succeeding in landing a hit on him before a quick shunpo had Ichigo standing two meters away.

"It's not like there are many people on Earth to spar with!" Ichigo returned heatedly even as he struck out and nearly hit the red-head. Both of them were in Shikai, and planned on staying that way.

Their swords crossed a moment later, putting their faces within inches of each other as they both pressed for the advantage. "I bet you _spar_ with your girl plenty."

Ichigo growled at the lecherous tone of voice even as Renji jumped back with a laugh.

Unable to hear what Renji had said, Orihime let out a giggle when Ichigo let of a growl and charged. "At least he can let his emotions out this way. Although I'm kinda worried about him attracting attention."

"Are you kidding?" Karin laughed out loud. "No one wants to be anywhere near this. If it wasn't for the kido Toshiro put around us before he left, none of us could be sitting here watching calmly."

"One person will want to come here."

This time it was Rukia who laughed. "Don't worry about it, Orihime-chan. Renji and I anticipated you two showing up today, so we bribed Ikkaku to set up a treasure hunt for Yachiru-fukutaicho. And you know she'll want her Ken-chan with her."

Orihime giggled as Karin cocked her head in confusion, and she managed to say that someone would explain soon, or that Karin would get to see it for herself.

"So who's gonna give you away?" Rukia asked suddenly as she thought about Orihime's earlier comments. When her friends eyes grew sad, she immediately clapped her hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, I…"

"It's okay, Rukia-chan." Orihime said softly. "I've thought about it, and I don't really know. The closest thing I've had to a dad has been these past few years, but it would be weird to have the groom's father give me away…"

"Oh, dad would love it." Karin chimed in. "I can just hear it now. 'You mean I get to escort this lovely vision to my son? But I want to run away with her myself…'"

All three girls laughed this time, although Orihime's was brief as she said softly, "That's if Ichigo ever asks me…"

"You ever gonna ask that girl to marry you?" Renji taunted as he nearly landed a hit on Ichigo as the boy's attention was drawn to Orihime's laughter.

"I could wait twenty years and still have twice the balls you do." Ichigo shot back as Zangetsu shot out as well.

"You ain't gonna live as long as us." Renji retorted as he blocked and then tried to shunpo in behind Ichigo.

Ichigo spun to face Renji as he reappeared. "Sure we will. We'll both be Shinigami eventually."

Outwardly brash and confident, Ichigo managed to let none of his fears show in his voice. Eventually, he thought with a sigh, he just might manage to get up the courage to ask her.

"_That's stupid. You know she'll say yes."_

"Ah, shut up." Ichigo told his inner hollow as him and Renji continued to fight. The Hollow had been gloating all morning about how many times he had made Orihime come, and now he was calling him stupid for being nervous about asking the most important question a man could ask a woman. "It's just not the right time."

TBC…

* * *

AN2: It was asked of me after chapter 4 how Orihime could kiss Ichigo with his full Hollow mask. Umm… Anime physics? He can speak, after all, so the mouth has to move somewhat, and he has to have lips and a tongue… Well I guess I proved that… Uh, yeah. Anime physics.

And sorry if the jump from the lemon to the next morning seemed odd to anyone, my friend who beta'd for me said it was a bit odd, but since both of them had agreed to what was going on I didn't think there needed to be a discussion about it or anything. If enough people dislike how it flowed I may do a bit of a rewrite


	6. Interruptions

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet or in books, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: Sorry if this chapter seem to clash with the rest of the story, I'm trying my hand at getting some comedy in again. Then the next chapter will be the *"amazing mix of fluff and romance with bits of comedy and a side of hot guy" that I write normally, and then after that prepare yourselves for angst. Major angst. _You have been warned_. Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and thanks to everyone for being patient with me as I've not been able to keep up the pace I had when I first started writing this story. (I think I had a part out every three or four days!) My work has gotten busier, my friends have more problems they want me to solve, and I have become addicted to Bleach yaoi fanfic. (I ran out of new stories with all the het couples I like.) I tried to get this out yesterday for the anniversary of Masaki's death, but it didn't quite work. Anyways, please enjoy this part, and please take the time to review.

*My friend OpheliaImmortal, who said this phrase describes almost every one-shot I've written in the Bleachverse. I couldn't really disagree, as it does indeed describe 4 of the 5 one-shots I've written, and the one it doesn't fit with is actually more of a prequel to a larger story that is still in progress. J

* * *

Until the Last Breath

By Lady Callista

Chapter 6: Interruptions

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_Interruptions can be viewed as sources of irritation or opportunities for service, as moments lost or experience gained, as time wasted or horizons widened. They can annoy us or enrich us, get under our skin or give us a shot in the arm. Monopolize our minutes or spice our schedules, depending on our attitude toward them."_

_~William Arthur Ward_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

A few days had passed since Ichigo and Orihime returned from Soul Society after visiting Karin for the first time. They had not gone back yet, wanting to let her settle in without their rather disruptive presence, although they did receive a jigoku-cho from her every day, and send one in return.

"How's Yuzu-chan doing?" Orihime asked quietly one night as they sat in her living room, sharing a dinner of sukiyaki and talking about random things.

"She's okay." Ichigo said gruffly, chuckling as she picked up a red-bean paste mochi from a small plate beside her and munched on it happily. He had managed to get her to not put the red-bean paste _in_ the sukiyaki, as she apparently did when she was alone, but she couldn't imagine having a meal without it being present somehow. He had solved the problem by running out to buy mochi, using the time he was gone to try and let the words running though his head form into sentences.

Every spare moment of the past days, not that there had been many of them, he had been trying to figure out how to propose to her. Because his dad and Ran-chan and Renji and everyone else who had been teasing them about it for months were right. What the hell was he waiting for? Sure, they were young, but they had already dealt with so much together. There really was no reason to wait, and he was fairly certain of what her answer would be. That still didn't make it any easier for him to find the right words.

"Really?"

"Well, she's constantly asking questions about everything now. Shinigami and Soul Society. Hollows and reiatsu. She can see stuff now, instead of just sense it. I think she always could, but she had just blocked it somehow because she couldn't deal with it."

"That makes sense." Orihime said softly, cocking her head as her boyfriend fiddled with one of the Chappy chopstick rests Rukia had given her for her birthday the year before. He picked it up, flipped it over, tossed it from hand to hand, seeming unaware that he was doing it. He only ever fiddled with things when something was on his mind. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" He looked up, momentarily bobbling the rest, and quickly setting it down when he saw her eyes on it. "Oh, uh, yeah, things are just weird, you know? And the funeral this afternoon was almost surreal. Everyone expects us to be sad; but to us, it's not even like she's really dead. More like she just moved away."

Orihime nodded in understanding. "And it's not like she moved to some strange place either. We know lots of people there, and we know Toshiro loves her, and we know Rukia and Renji and everyone will look out for her."

"Exactly." Although Ichigo did worry a bit about the kind of things she would learn from people like Renji. "So I'm not really sad, but it's still weird to walk into the house and not have her be there."

Orihime glanced towards her brother's shrine. "I know exactly what you mean. Tatsuki-chan and I had plans to take the girls to the zoo this weekend. It'll be weird to stop at your house and only pick up Yuzu."

"And then I keep thinking how we're going away to college this fall, and it'll only be dad and Yuzu in the house, and…"

"I know." Orihime's eyes showed a mix of both sadness and anticipation. "It's so weird to think we're going to Tokyo. It'll be weird, just the two of us in that huge city where we don't know anyone. Tatsuki was so upset she didn't get in, it'll be so weird without her. Although we are already planning on going there next month so I can start looking at apartments. Apparently she has some family down there, so she wants to go with me and show me around, because she's worried about me getting lost, or living in bad place, or…"

"Hime, about that." Ichigo cut her off as she began to babble. She didn't do it nearly as much as she used to, and he still found it cute, but often times it was better to cut her off before she got too worked up. And she had just given him an opening. If he could get the words out. If he had the courage to ask. He would start off by saying he loved her, which she obviously knew but he couldn't imagine proposing without actually saying it, and then he would ask her about…

"Ichigo?" She asked softly as he cut her off, but then only stared into space, thoughts flashing across his face too fast for her to even guess at what he was thinking.

Ichigo stood, and scooted around the table until he sat beside her. "Well, Orihime, I was thinking…. Um….. Orihime, I love you, and…."

The doorbell rang.

"Who could that be?" Orihime bounced up and ran for the door as Ichigo put his head into his hands and let out a quiet moan.

He had finally been about to ask, finally worked up the courage, although the fact that he had stuttered twice and hadn't even finished a full sentence was probably bad, but now the moment was ruined. He would have to start over when she got back, and…

"Orihime-neesan, thank god you're home." A young sounding female voice he didn't recognize made Ichigo turn to face the door, where a girl who was maybe 14 stood, wringing her hands. "Nii-chan's going to be home in a few hours, and it's his birthday, and I wanted to bake him a cake, but we're out of sugar, and I don't understand part of the recipe where it wants me to… Oh, you've got company, I'm so sorry, I…."

Ichigo sighed, rising and crossing to the door even as Orihime spoke quickly.

"It's okay, Tamari-chan." Orihime said as she reached out of ruffle the girl's hair, then turned back to Ichigo and smiled at him. "This is my boyfriend, Kurosaki Ichigo. Ichigo, this is my friend Tanaka Tamari."

Orihime smiled as they both bowed and the girl gave a formal greeting before saying in a slightly breathy voice, "I've heard so much about you, Kurosaki-san."

Orihime blushed as Ichigo gave her a look, and spoke quickly, "Uh, Tamari-chan, why don't you go back downstairs? I'll just grab my sugar and be down in a minute, okay."

The girl blushed, nodded, bowed, and left.

Orihime spoke softly as she closed the door behind her. "Her brother is only a few years older than her. They moved in about a month ago, after their parents died. I've kinda been helping them out, they remind me so much of me and Sora-nii"

Ichigo's eyes widened, and compassion showed in them as he said gruffly, "Go help your friend. I'll find us a movie or something to watch when you get back, okay?"

Orihime nodded before grabbing the sugar from the kitchen, and hugged him as she moved back to the front door. "Thank you."

Ichigo kissed her gently, his hand cupping her cheek tenderly as he replied, "She's lucky to have someone like you looking out for her."

Orihime blushed, and gave him a beaming smile as she left.

Ichigo turned back into the living room, his gaze suddenly drawn to Sora's shrine. He crossed the room and knelt before it, just staring for several minutes as he thought about something before speaking softly, "I wonder sometimes how different Orihime would be if you hadn't died. Some days I think that if you were still around she would be completely different, other times I think she would have turned out exactly the same. Although I don't know if we would be together, cause you probably would have tried to keep your little sister as far away from someone like me as possible." Ichigo chuckled at that, then fell silent again, wondering how the hell he was going to propose to Orihime when he couldn't even get the words he wanted to say out when he was speaking to a shrine.

"I can't exactly ask your permission, but I can tell you that I love her, and that I'll take care of her, and protect her, for… well, I guess the cliché for as long as we live doesn't really work, so I'll just say forever."

"_That's if you ever grow the balls to ask her."_

"Shut up!"

_OoO A few days later OoO_

"Hime, I love you so much, and…."

"Orihime-chan!" Rangiku squealed as she flew in the window. "You'll be one of my attendants for my wedding, won't you? Cause it's in like a month, and we need to get you a new kimono, and…."

Ichigo let out a grunt of frustration, tilted his head back to rest against the couch, and closed his eyes in resignation.

_OoO About a week later OoO_

"…I know we've only been together for a few years, but…"

Ichigo cursed as a Hollow popped out of the sky right above the park bench they were sitting on, and his body flopped into Orihime's waiting arms as he flew into the sky to vent some of his frustration.

_OoO A few days later OoO_

"…We've been through so much, and I…"

"Orihime-nee!" Yuzu squealed as the front door slammed with a bang and she charged into the room. "Jinta-kun just asked me out on a date!"

This time Ichigo's curse was for more than being interrupted.

_OoO A few days later OoO_

"That was such an amazing dinner, Ichigo. How did you find this restaurant?"

"Uryu found it actually. Uh, Orihime, I've been trying to talk to you for a few weeks now, well, and…"

The fire alarm went off and the sprinklers came on.

Orihime jumped to her feet along with the rest of the patrons as a cloud of smoke came billowing out from behind the swinging door that led to the kitchen.

Ichigo slumped down in his seat for a second as he mumbled, "I saved the damn world, you would think I could get one little break."

_OoO About a week later OoO_

Ichigo cuddled with Orihime on his living room couch, barely paying attention to the game show she had put on the TV. It seemed like every week there was a new show that gave people another way to make idiots out of themselves while thousands of people watched and laughed.

The sounds of Yuzu and his father making dinner drifted out of the kitchen, and the occasional roll of thunder could be heard over the rain pounding into the roof.

It wasn't the most romantic setting he could think of, but he had been there and done that and it hadn't worked. A Hollow had interrupted a romantic night in the park. A freak fire had interrupted a dinner at a romantic restaurant. Rangiku, Tatsuki, and Uryu had each interrupted a different quiet night alone at Orihime's apartment. His sister had interrupted a quiet night in this very room.

He had refined his speech now due to far too many attempts to get the entire thing out, then decided it just wasn't worth it. All he had to do was say five words. Just five little words. Orihime, will you marry me?

"Orihime, will you…"

"ORIHIME-CHAN!" Rukia came hurtling down the stairs, and Ichigo closed his eyes and almost gave up. Maybe fate was just enjoying screwing with him.

"Rukia-chan!" Orihime's head whipped up, cracking her forehead against Ichigo's chin. She leapt to her feet, stumbling as she did so and rubbing her head, everything focused on the franticness rolling off the other girl in waves. "The wedding in only two days away! What's wrong?"

"She doesn't have anything borrowed!"

Ichigo wondered what the hell she was talking about as he rubbed his neck, which was a little stiff from the mild whiplash his girlfriend had just given him. At least it was mild compared to some of the other times. His eyes snapped to Orihime as she gasped.

"But I thought you said that Ise-chan was going to loan her that one choker necklace…"

Rukia shook her head emphatically. "Even with that elaborate kimono, she refuses to not wear that ring-on-a-chain necklace she always wears. During the last fitting she even pulled it out of the collar, and I think she plans on wearing it that way. One of the maids almost fainted."

Orihime almost giggled at the thought, but remembered what she knew about the necklace. "It, it means a lot to her. I can't really say much, but it's special, and I can understand why she won't take it off, even for her wedding. Maybe especially for her wedding." Orihime said the last so softly that neither of the other two even heard her.

"That still leaves us with a problem. Her kimono is new, the obi is a very old Kuchiki one, her flowers are blue, but she has nothing borrowed!" Rukia ranted, not noticing that both Isshin and Yuzu's heads were sticking around the corner into the kitchen watching her.

"You don't have anything?" Orihime asked in surprise. "Or Momo-chan? Or Yuruichi-nee? Or…"

"Well, none of us wear earrings or rings, and she already has hair ornaments because they were made to match the kimono, and…"

"Let's go check on wedding websites." Orihime interrupted, pulling Rukia behind her as she raced up to Ichigo's room and his computer. "I'm sure we'll be able to find a good idea for something…"

Ichigo's eyes were spinning as he watched them race out of the room without even acknowledging his presence. He heard a soft chuckle behind him and spun to face his father, who patted Yuzu on the head before asking her if she could finish making dinner on her own.

Yuzu nodded and slipped back into the kitchen as Isshin walked into the room and looked at his son with a smile on his face. "Planning a wedding, whether it is your own or someone else's, is one of the most important things a girl ever does. Everything has to be perfect, because it has to fit the dream. The dream that, for at least that one day, nothing is more important than the two of you and your love for each other. Wait here for a minute."

Ichigo watched as his father went up the stairs, his entire head spinning now. He wasn't sure if he liked the more serious Isshin that emerged more and more often as of late. His father was easier to deal with when he was trying to pummel him into the ground than when he was being insightful. Plus it was just fucking bizarre to see the man who had worn an expression that belonged in a chibi-anime for as long as Ichigo could remember suddenly being serious and mature.

Isshin returned a moment later carrying a black silk bag, and sat down beside his son. He pulled out one of the only two items in the bag, an oblong oak box, polished to a gleam. He snapped open the clasp, and pulled a fan out, flipping it open for his son to see.

Ichigo stared at the hand-pained fan, which depicted a grove of sakura trees in bloom, and koi alive-looking enough that they seemed to swim through the small pond in the foreground.

"I've never seen that before…" Ichigo said after a moment.

"Ran-chan gave it to me on the ten-year anniversary of the day I became a taicho. Became her taicho." Isshin said softly as he put the fan back in the box. "Have Rukia tell her I would be honored if she would carry it."

Ichigo took the box carefully when his father held it out.

"It's the only thing I took with me from Seireitei, because she wasn't just my fukutaicho, she was one of my best friends. There was never anything romantic between us, " Isshin chuckled as he saw of a look of curiosity come into his son's face, "But I hated knowing how much she would be hurt by my leaving. I don't know if she noticed I took the fan with me or not, but make sure she knows I want it back!"

Ichigo chucked a bit, then drew his breath in sharply as his father pulled a second item out of the bag.

It was a black velvet box, one he had only seen once in his life. But he remembered the item within as if he had seen it yesterday, when in fact he had only seen it every day during the first nine years of his life, and had not seen it since. "Otou-san…"

"When I put it in this box, I told the three of you I didn't think I was going to pass it on to any of you. I couldn't imagine seeing it on anyone but her. But I think she would want you to have it. She would _love _Orihime, and she would be so proud of both of you."

"Otou-san." Ichigo couldn't think of what to say.

"I have to help Yuzu finish dinner now." Isshin said quietly as he rose. "Don't wait too long. It could have been Orihime instead of Karin. Don't waste time; it's too precious. Especially for people like us."

Ichigo stared after his dad for a long time after he had gone back to the kitchen, then with shaking fingers opened the box his father had placed into his clutched hand.

And for the first time in 9 years, he smiled as he saw light reflecting off his mother's diamond engagement ring.

TBC…..

* * *

AN2: They probably don't do the old, new, borrowed, and blue thing in Japan, but I figured why not? I didn't really feel like researching marriage customs in Japan, so I just used Western ones. Hope that doesn't bother anyone too much, cause the wedding in the next chapter will be much the same way, although I do know about the sake cups thing. Again, please review. I'm hoping to have the next part out in about a week, but we'll see.


	7. Revelations

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it's good to be back! Sorry this part is a bit later than I had planned, but lateness was caused partially by this evil little plot bunny that hopped into my house the other night and became a new one-shot. And it's even IchiHime! So for anyone who hasn't found it yet and wants more IchiHimegoodness, it's called "Barely Breathing," and is set during "I'll Stand By You," because it's a very angsty piece. It's early on in the story, after he held her the first night but before they kiss. Cause she does say that nightmares wake her up almost every night, even when he's there. Anyway, enough with the shameless plugs.

This part is also late because the wedding just did NOT want to be written. I must have tried it five different times, and was up to almost 1200 words one of those times, but it just did not work out at all. So, sorry to anyone who was looking forward to it, and maybe at some point I'll get it done and add it into the story, but the promised ByaRan wedding will not be happening in this part. I'm just skipping ahead to after the wedding, and the angst that I warned was coming. Sorry.

_This part is dedicated to everyone who loved "For Her Smile," but told me that at some point Rangiku should find out. Prepare for major drama/angst. (And if you love Ran/Gin but haven't read that story yet you should totally check it out.)_

* * *

Until the Last Breath

By Lady Callista

Chapter 7: Revelations

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_My word, Severus, that I shall never reveal the best of you?"_

_Albus Dumbledore in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows" _

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_OoO Two days after Byakuya and Rangiku's wedding OoO_

"I'm so glad you guys were able to stay for a few days after the wedding." Karin said with a smile as she knelt next to Toshiro, watching Orihime and Ichigo unpack a picnic basket.

"I just wish we could do this more often." Orihime said, smiling back as she set out the bento boxes. "But most of the non taicho-class get nervous when Ichigo is around for more than the little bit it takes for him to check up on you. It's so cute how they stammer around him."

"Well he's a hero." Karin said cheekily. "He's the one who was strong enough, and smart enough, to defeat Aizen when no one else could."

"I know." Orihime's voice turned dreamy. "It was so amazing how he figured out how to defeat Aizen."

"Well if you hadn't been able to bring me back I wouldn't have been the hero but another villain. Besides, I didn't really figure it out." Ichigo said with a light blush, not seeing how Toshiro's eyes grew huge and he started shaking his head. "Toshiro told me."

"What?" Karin screeched, her head flicking around to her boyfriend. "You knew, how?"

"It was…. Uh… it was a guess, just… I mean…" Toshiro flushed bright red and started stammering.

"What's the big deal, Toshiro-kun?" Orihime asked quietly, nodding in greeting as Rangiku and Yoruichi joined the group, setting a jug of orange liquid in the grass by the other picnic supplies.

"Just juice, I swear." Rangiku insisted as both Ichigo and Toshiro raised their eyebrows and frowned at her. "Why does no one believe the spiked punch you humans got at the first Remembrance ceremony was an accident?"

"Because it would have happened this year too, if we hadn't noticed in time. " Ichigo said gruffly.

Karin tried unsuccessfully to smother a giggle, looking at her brother and his girlfriend. "Is that why Orihime-nee was sick the day after the party last year?"

Yoruichi laughed even as both Ichigo and Orihime flushed before nodding.

"And as crazy as those parties have gotten, it's nothing compared to the week after the War ended." Rangiku laughed with her friend. "I think half of Seireitei was drunk for a week straight."

"Well, we did have a lot to celebrate." Yoruichi grinned. "It's too bad you guys weren't up here to party with us; I mean, without Ichigo figuring out how to kill Aizen…"

"Well, that's what we were talking about before you guys showed up." Orihime said, her eyes flickering to Toshiro as his face took on a pained expression, and she noted his grip on Karin's hand tightening. "Apparently Toshiro-kun told Ichigo how to defeat Aizen, but he won't tell us how he knew."

All eyes turned to Toshiro, who flushed. "It was, look, I just guessed, okay? I just thought that maybe, I mean… It made sense, and…"

"Wow, I think he lies worse than you do, Orihime-chan." Rangiku laughed as Toshiro trailed off.

_You never promised that smirking fox bastard you wouldn't tell her._

Karin's eyes widened as she heard Hyorinmaru speak to Toshiro. She hadn't been trying to use Kyokon, but her control over her power was still incomplete. Especially with Toshiro.

_Dying wish or not…she deserves to know._

Rangiku continued to talk, and under the cover of her loud voice Karin leaned over and said quietly to Toshiro, "Who was the smirking fox bastard?"

Unfortunately, Rangiku finished talking halfway through Karin's sentence, and as a result everyone in the group heard the softly murmured phrase 'smirking fox bastard.'

Then three things happened at once.

Toshiro moaned and dropped his head into his hands. Yoruichi, Ichigo, and Orihime froze for an instant, then in almost comical unison spun their heads around to stare at Karin. And Rangiku fell to her knees in front of Karin, gripping the younger girls hakama as the glass of juice she had been holding fell unnoticed to the ground.

Karin had no idea what she had just stepped into. "What?" She asked in confusion.

"What about him?" Rangiku asked. "What does he have to do with… with how Toshiro knew?"

"It doesn't matter." The boy mumbled through his hands, then let out another groan.

Rangiku's eyes seemed to darken as she turned to Karin, and Ichigo noticeably tensed as if he thought his sister was about to be attacked.

"I… I don't know." Karin whispered, very confused but knowing that now was not the time to ask questions. "Toshiro promised him something, or rather he didn't promise, but it… it was a dying wish."

"You were with him when he died." Rangiku said softly, her body and face shifting to face her taicho, who still had his head in his hands. "But why would he have told you how to defeat Aizen? Did he have some last moment spurt of conscience?"

Orihime gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth as her eyes suddenly shone with tears. Clueless though she could be at times, understanding other people's thoughts and motivations was one thing she had always been good at. She was the first one to understand the truth.

She was also the first, and only, one to notice the pulse of reiatsu from Yoruichi as the flash goddess embraced her nickname and suddenly vanished from the clearing.

Through a light sheen of tears, Orihime noticed Karin trying to get her attention without anyone else noticing her, and the younger girl mouthed, "What is going on?"

Not noticing his sister's gaze, Ichigo pulled himself away from the incredibly tense scene the instant he heard his girlfriend gasp. He turned to her immediately, slipping an arm around her shoulders as he watched a look of horror slowly grow on her face. "What?" He asked quietly.

Orihime ignored them both, her eyes now locked on Toshiro.

"Yes, he's the one that told me." Raising his head to meet his fukutaicho's stormy eyes, he spoke for the first time since Karin's revelation. He knew there was going to be no way out of this. "He didn't want you to know."

"He didn't want me to know _what_?" Rangiku asked heatedly.

"Wait, Ichimaru is the one who told us how to beat Aizen?" Ichigo had finally put it all together, and he gaped at Toshiro, one arm still around Orihime. She had started to shake her head back and forth slightly, and he wasn't even sure she was still listening to the conversation.

Yoruichi, a very annoyed Byakuya in tow, had returned just as Ichigo started speaking. Her eyebrows shot up, and she instantly sank back down into her position in the circle of sitting friends.

The look of annoyance vanished from Byakuya's face as he understood why he had been abducted without a single word of explanation. A careful expression on his face, he stepped up behind his wife and laid his hands on her shoulders.

"Why would…"

"Please, he thought it would be better for you if you didn't know." Toshiro whispered, the hands he held fisted in his lap tightening.

"But how could…."

The abrupt arrival of a jigoku-cho made Rangiku trail off, and when it stopped in front of Toshiro he lifted a hand to it, grateful for the interruption. He knew they were going to finish this conversation one way or another, but some time to think would be welcome.

"Hitsugaya-taicho, report to Yamamoto-soutaicho's office immediately."

With a loud sigh, Toshiro started to rise, keeping his eyes on his fukutaicho. "You know I have to go. I'll be back as soon as I possibly can. I promise to explain."

Rangiku's eyes lost a little bit of their heat when the word 'promise' passed his lips, but her face still showed her confusion as Toshiro took a shunpo and was gone.

Orihime startled out of her thoughts when she heard Rangiku whisper her name.

"Orihime. I can see something in your face… but I don't understand." Rangiku whispered. "He had to have changed his mind… If he's the reason we won… Why wouldn't he want anyone to know? Why would he specifically not want _me_ to know?"

"No, don't any of you see?" Orihime whispered, glancing at Ichigo and Yoruichi before finally addressing herself to Rangiku. "Don't you see, Rangiku-san? He _is_ the reason we won, but… but he didn't change his mind."

"I do not understand." Byakuya spoke softly, his hands still resting comfortingly on Rangiku's shoulders.

"I… I think I do. I know what it's like to be seen as a traitor because no one knows _why _you did something, they only know _what_ you did." Orihime said softly.

"I never thought…" The arm Ichigo had around her tightened, and he turned his body towards her, his other hand reaching out to touch her cheek.

Orihime flushed, and turned to face him. "I know _you_ didn't, Ichigo, but…"

"Not all the Shinigami believed it, but she's right that most of them did." Rangiku whispered. "But once they found out how you'd been forced…"

"Are you saying…" Yoruichi spoke up, her face burning with thought, "Did Aizen somehow force Ichimaru to…"

"No. I think it's worse than that." Orihime flushed bright red, then began to babble, "But I could be wrong Ran-chan, and I don't want to have you worry about something that isn't true, and… and I really think we should just wait for Toshiro-kun to get back."

"Tell me!" Rangiku snarled.

"Hey, back off!" Ichigo growled back at her as a single tear slid down Orihime's face. "You don't know how she feels when she's forced to remember…."

"Ichigo-kun, it's okay." Orihime whispered. "But… please Ran-chan, let's just wait for Toshiro-kun to get back."

Rangiku let out another snarl, but didn't try to interrogate the girl. Instead she got up and began to pace, every step punctuated by a progressively courser swear word.

Byakuya started to rise, then settled back on his heels, his expression openly anxious. His eyes tracked her as she paced, but he recognized that she needed to burn off her energy somehow.

"What the hell is going on?" Karin's voice broke the silence after about a minute, although her voice was very subdued.

Orihime turned to answer her, but Yoruichi shook her head and gestured to Ichigo as she slid closer to Karin and began to explain the backstory.

His arm still around her, Ichigo leaned in and asked Orihime in a whisper, "Can you tell me?"

"I actually really hope I'm wrong, but…" Orihime leaned in to breath almost silently in Ichigo's ear. "I went with Aizen, and didn't tell anyone, because I didn't want any of you to get hurt."

Ichigo nodded, remembering the day she had told him the whole story.

"Because I didn't want _you_ to get hurt." Orihime continued. "I could have tried to leave a message. I could have tried to let you know that I wasn't going willingly. But the best way to keep you safe was to not tell you anything. And the only way to make sure you didn't come after me was if you thought I was a traitor, and hated me."

"You should have known I would never think that of you." Ichigo whispered, brushing a hand through her hair. "Even before I knew I loved you, I don't think you could have done anything to make me hate you."

Orihime allowed herself to nuzzle in against his neck for a moment, drawing the warm, spicy scent of him around her as if it were a favorite blanket. As always, his scent combined with his arms around her both calmed and comforted her, and gave her the courage to add, "But I think there's a difference. I went willingly in a way, but only because the only other option I was given was unthinkable for me. I think Ichimaru… I think he decided on his own. I don't think he was ever really on Aizen's side, but I think he wanted everyone to think he was."

"But that makes no sense." Although it remained soft, Ichigo's voice showed his frustration. "Why wouldn't he want to be vindicated in the end?"

"Before you changed into a full Hollow for the first time… When I thought you had died for me, I no longer wanted to live. It wasn't just that I couldn't imagine my life without you in it." Orihime's voice reflected the pain of her memories. "I couldn't imagine living knowing that the person I loved gave his life for mine."

"You're worth more to me than my life." Ichigo replied, his voice barely audible.

"I feel the same way, which is why I did what I did." Orihime's eyes shone with tears again, although for a different reason than before. Even though they'd been together for nearly two years, her heart still melted when Ichigo said things like that to her. She shook her head a little to clear it, knowing he'd given her the perfect opening to make her point. "But if you had a choice, wouldn't you rather I didn't know? You've told me how you felt when I was missing. Anytime something bad happens to me, you blame yourself. You're willing to die for me. But how would you feel if I died for you?"

"I wouldn't want to live." Ichigo said simply, realizing he was echoing her earlier words. Then he gasped, choking in the process, and pulled back enough to look into Orihime's eyes. "You think he did it for Rangiku-san. You think he saw it as the only way to be certain Aizen would be defeated, and… and to make sure she was safe Aizen _had_ to be defeated. But that it would be easier for her if she hated him."

Orihime shook her head a little. "I think he knew he couldn't make her hate him. Just like I could never hate you, not even if you had done what he did. And if he loved her that much, to do that for her, he probably found it hard to hurt her more than he had to. But…."

"But if she knew that he did it for her…." Ichigo chose that moment to be insightful, and his shock at the revelation made him raise his voice enough that the other four people in the clearing all turned to look at him.

And it was at that frozen moment that Hitsugaya Toshiro flashed back into the clearing.

"Did Gin die because of me?" Rangiku's voice was emotionless as she instantly stopped pacing and faced her taicho, not even bothering to ask what business had called him away.

"Rangiku…" Toshiro whispered.

"Ran-chan…" Byakuya said softly, and actually took a step backwards when she whirled to face him, her face looking wilder than he had ever seen it.

"Don't… don't call me that right now." Rangiku pleaded. "Please… Toshiro... Please tell me."

"He did tell me how to defeat Aizen. And he begged me not to tell you. To not tell you that, and to never tell you that he had never been on Aizen's side." Toshiro took a step closer to her, pain on his face. "To never let you know that the only way he could be certain Aizen would be defeated was to pretend to be on his side."

"And the only way he could be sure I would be happy was to be sure Aizen was defeated." Rangiku whispered as tears streamed down her face.

Then her face shifted from pain to rage, and with a hiss she yanked her necklace off and threw it at her taicho. "You should have told me! That smirking son of a… that complete bastard… that… There had to be another way. I deserved to know! He didn't have to…"

Toshiro caught the necklace as it flew at his face and simply stood there holding it, having no idea what to do or say.

"Kisuke and I tried another way, and spent a hundred years in exile." Yoruichi spoke for the first time since she'd returned with Byakuya. "Aizen had Kyoka Suigetsu… Ichimaru couldn't tell anyone, because anyone could be used against him."

"He could have told me. I would never…" Rangiku spun to include her friend in her tirade.

"I think he might have, if he thought the odds of him getting out alive were good." Orihime whispered, bravely risking turning her friend's attention to her. "But he knew how much it would hurt you if you knew he died for you. If you knew he died to make sure that you were happy."

"You understand." Toshiro whispered, although Rangiku looked murderous enough that he didn't dare look away from her as he spoke to Orihime.

"I know how I felt when I thought Ichigo died for me." Orihime replied, her voice radiating sympathy. "And I know why I didn't leave him any hint when I was _persuaded_ to go to Hueco Mundo."

Rangiku let out a particularly crude curse word and started to pace again, muttering angrily to herself.

"I… I died for Yuzu, kinda." Karin said softly. "I love her, and I knew only I could save her, so I did what I had to do… something I knew I might not survive…"

"When he first talked me into being a Shinigami, he said that the reason he wanted to become one was…" Rangiku let out another string of curses, then sobbed as she said, "Was so that everything would end without me having to cry. I'd rather have died myself. I would rather have died than have to live with knowing he died not only because of me, but _for_ me."

And with that she briefly wrapped her arms around herself, almost like a hug, then viciously yanked the pink scarf from around her neck and tossed it to the ground. Without another word, she took a shunpo and was gone.

"Rangiku…" Byakuya rose with the intent of following her, but a sudden blast of reiatsu from Ichigo made him turn to face the younger man.

Ichigo rose and looked at Byakuya. "Do you know where she went? Where she would go?"

Byakuya gave a curt nod, not noticing that Toshiro did so as well.

Ichigo stroked his hand over Orihime's hair. "I know you want to go after her… I know that if it was Orihime… But please let me go talk to her. I know…"

Orihime gripped his hand in support as his voice choked off. She knew what he was going to say before he said it.

"My mom died for me. Died to protect me. And Orihime almost did the same. I know how Rangiku is feeling…"

"Please let him try." Orihime whispered, barely flinching when Byakuya's stare focused on her. "I'm sorry, but she… she won't want to talk to you right now."

Although his face stayed hard as stone, Byakuya didn't make another move to leave.

"Give me half an hour." Ichigo said softly. "Please, Kuchiki-sama."

Byakuya gave a long blink as he was addressed formally by Ichigo for the first time in, well, ever. "Before she became a Shinigami, her and Ichimaru lived in a small house in Rukongai." He told Ichigo the general area, knowing that once the boy was close enough he'd be able to sense her.

"Thank you." Ichigo said simply. And with a shunpo he reduced the number of people in the clearing to five.

"Good luck." Orihime whispered as Ichigo vanished, her heart breaking for him. She knew how difficult the conversation he was about to have would be for him, in more ways than one.

TBC…


	8. Reasons

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: Still dedicated to all the amazing readers who reviewed "For Her Smile." Especially to those of you who are finding it for the first time. Because I did agree with you that one day Ran should find out.

* * *

Until the Last Breath

By Lady Callista

Chapter 8 : Reasons

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_The single truth this one cannot abandon. The wish to protect those within sight, the wish to be strength for those who suffer, those in sorrow. This one wants to see even one more smile."_

_Kenshin Himura in Rurouni Kenshin, manga vol. 27_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Orihime sat quietly, looking at the ground, aware of the fact that the four people sitting on the gay picnic blanket with her were doing the same. No one wanted to break the silence. No one knew what to say.

Finally, Karin left her boyfriend's side to walk over and pick up the pink scarf that had been thrown to the ground. "I've never seen her without this." She said softly, unsure if she was being annoying. She barely knew Rangiku, although they had been becoming friends over the month since she had been up here.

"Nor this." Toshiro added, staring at the silver ring and necklace still cupped in his hand.

"I know they are both keepsakes from before she became a Shinigami, and I know they both remind her of Ichimaru." Byakuya said, no emotion showing on his face although there was a slight hitch in his voice. "I have never asked, and she has never offered, more than that."

"I, uh, I can tell you about the necklace." Orihime offered quietly, hoping this didn't count as betraying her friend's confidence. "I asked her once, since she wore it all the time like I did my barrettes, if it had power. If it held part of her power. Rangiku said no, and yes at the same time. She told me a story, but thee uh… the main thing is that Ichimaru-san had taught her to fight, because Rukongai is dangerous and all. That necklace is a memento of her first fight. Her first victory. The start of her journey to who she is today. She said it reminded her of where she had come from, and of who she had been before she became a fukutaicho. She never said it reminded her of him, although she did get a little spacey for a few minutes when she was telling me about their first kiss…"

Byakuya twitched involuntarily, and Orihime's eyes flew to him in horror as she stopped talking.

It took Byakuya about fifteen seconds to speak, but his voice was neutral when he said, "I have held her while she cried over him. I have listened to her memories after she awakens me in the night by screaming another man's name. I know she loves him, as I love my first wife still. I am only upset to learn… learn what he did… because it will hurt her more."

Karin blushed, and surprised everyone in the group by bowing to him. "Kuchiki-taicho, I'm sorry. It is my fault that she found out. I lost control of Kyokon, and heard something that…"

"It's okay, Kurosaki-chan." Byakuya said gently, focusing his attentions on the young girl. "I agree that she has a right to know; I am just sorry it will hurt her."

Toshiro bowed as well. "I honored his dying wish, and understood it in some manner. He asked me if, since I had told him I would kill for someone, would I die for her? He put me in his shoes, and asked me if I would want her to know."

"If it were me, I would _not_ want her to know." Byakuya whispered.

"Which is what I concluded." Toshiro said softly as he rose from his bow.

"If you ever decide to die for me, you better succeed." Karin growled into the silence. "Or I'll kill you myself."

Yoruichi, who had been silent since her friend left, turned to Orihime and asked sofrly, "You see your barrettes the same way, don't you?"

"Yeah, I kinda do." Orihime admitted. "My brother gave them to me right before he died, so even before they held my power I wore them every day. They remind me of who I was. Before I knew about Shinigami and Hollows. Before my brother died and I was alone. When my life was nothing more than school, and clubs, and my friends. The necklace Ichigo gave me is the same. It reminds me that he's always with me. No matter what."

Karin fingered the pink piece of cloth she held delicately. "What about this?"

"I know he once wrapped it around her, and she's worn it ever since." Toshiro said softly. "Years ago, probably around the time you were born, Karin-koishii, Momo talked me into getting Rangiku a gift one year for her birthday. Momo liked the scarf she always wore, but thought that she should wear it in different colors. Rangiku thanked me, but told me that she would never wear any scarf but the pink one. She told me that someone she loved had put it around her himself, and that as long as she was wearing it, it was like a part of him was with her."

Byakuya twitched again, and slid one foot out of seiza and forward, intending to rise.

Orihime reached out and placed a hand on his arm, both halting his motion and causing him to whip his head around to stare imperiously at her.

Orihime gulped, but didn't withdraw her hand. "Please, Kuchiki-taicho. Ichigo asked for 30 minutes. He… he knows how she's feeling, at least more than any of us do. Please."

Byakuya did not reply, but he did return to his fully seated position, and Orihime quickly withdrew her hand.

There was silence for a minute, which Karin broke awkwardly by saying softly to Toshiro, "I'm sorry. I… I lost control of Kyokon. I shouldn't have said anything…"

"It's okay, Karin." Toshiro said quietly. "I've been having this debate with Hyorinmaru for years. He always thought I should have told her. One part of me agreed at first, but once she got together with Kuchiki… once she was happy again…"

"There is no way to tell what would have happened had she known since the beginning." Byakuya said quietly. "None of us can read the future and see what the best decision is at any given moment. We can only do the best we can. Toshiro, I understand why you didn't tell her. And I think in time she will too."

Toshiro was silent for a moment, although whether he was in shock at being addressed by his given name by Byakuya for the first time, or in shock at the rest of the words that had been spoken, not even he was certain. In the end, he said the only thing he could. "Thank you, Byakuya."

Conversation trailed off into an uneasy silence as everyone waited for Ichigo to return.

Orihime drew her legs up to her chest, resting her chin on her knees as she wrapped her arms around her legs. She tried to imagine what Ichigo was saying to Rangiku, well aware that up until now he had never spoken of his feelings about his mother's death with anyone, not even her. They had talked about so much over the years, but that was the one wound he had never let her see. She had learned after a few attempts to just leave it alone.

Knowing he would likely be upset when he returned, Orihime breathed deeply as she thought about how to best comfort him. And she tucked away the little kernel of resentment and hurt that he was telling his most personal feelings to someone other than her.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoO_

Ichigo found the house Byakuya had told him about easily. Once he got near, her fluctuating reiatsu was better than a locator beacon. He landed in front of the house and walked through it silently, finding her exactly where Byakuya had said he would.

Sitting under the apple tree in the backyard.

Fingering a small piece of ragged white cloth that was snagged deeply on the tree.

Crying her heart out.

For the first time since he had left the group, Ichigo questioned his decision that he should be the one to go after her. Yes, he knew how she felt. But he couldn't even talk with Orihime about his mother. How was he ever going to get the words out with Rangiku, whom he had damn near detested for nearly the first year he had known her?

"Just leave me alone, please."

He hadn't even been certain she was aware enough to know he was there, but her broken sob did what nothing else could have, it made him cross to her and sit down beside her. Because he remembered what it felt like to have his heart break.

"I can't say I know exactly how you feel, because I _always_ blamed myself for my mother's death." Ichigo stared straight ahead as he spoke in a detached voice. "I always knew she died because of me. Although I didn't learn until years later that she _chose_ to die _for_ me."

Rangiku's sobs choked off, and she gasped as she looked over at him.

Ichigo felt her gaze, but couldn't make himself look at her. It was all he could do to keep speaking. "I've been able to see ghosts for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, I couldn't tell them apart from people. It was raining one night, and I saw a little girl about to jump into the river. She wasn't real, wasn't… alive, but I didn't know that. I tried to save her. The next thing I remember was waking up on the riverbank, my mother's body wrapped around me protectively. Covered in blood."

Although she gave no reply, Rangiku didn't try to stop him, and her sobs had turned to silent tears.

"I always thought she slipped or something, or maybe I did and she broke my fall, but it was still my fault cause I had run down to the bank when she was screaming at me not to."

"It was an accident." Rangiku whispered.

"When I fought the Grand Fisher, I learned the little girl had been bait. I don't think my mom could see ghosts, or Hollows, but maybe she sensed something. Or maybe she just reacted because I did.

"I remembered then. I remembered hearing her chasing after me as I ran, and suddenly I couldn't see the girl anyone, just the Hollow. I stopped running, and I just stared at it and screamed. I felt her grab me and spin us around. She protected me, she used herself as a shield, from something she couldn't even see."

"Ichigo…"

"I never understood why she would do that." Ichigo whispered, barely hearing her murmur his name. If he stopped talking now he wouldn't be able to start again. "Until I saw Ulq… until I saw one of the Espada about to kill Orihime. And I knew that if the only way to save her was to die then that was what I would do. There was no doubt, no hesitation. I would die for her."

"She felt the same way." Rangiku whispered. "You have to know that's why she went there in the first place."

Ichigo nodded. "I know. And I know you loved Ichimaru, just like Orihime loves me. Tell me, would you have died for him? Would you die for Byakuya?"

"Yes, but…" Rangiku's voice was soft and thoughtful, and although tears still rolled down her cheeks her voice was fairly clear. "I would step in front of a sword for them. I would protect them, even if I knew I would die doing it. I don't know if I could do it if they wouldn't know. I'm… I'm not that strong. I don't know what I would do if I had to make them think I had betrayed them. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't use my last breath to tell them that I loved them."

"Do you wish you had never found out?" Ichigo asked quietly.

"Gin never told me, not once in over a hundred years, that he loved me." Rangiku whispered, not mentioning the fact that his spirit had said it to her after he died. She still didn't know if that had been a dream or really him, although she liked to believe the latter. "I said it all the time, but he would never say it back. Toshiro told me… that his last words were to tell me that I should consider it said. I never understood how he could say that to me… I didn't know how it could be true because of what he had done… It makes sense now."

Although he was tempted to repeat his question, Ichigo let the fragile silence hold.

"I wish I had known from the beginning what he was doing. Failing that, I wish Toshiro had told me after he died. But I don't know what I would have done if he had." Rangiku admitted. "I don't know if I would have the life I do now. If I knew how much he loved me, if I knew he had died for me, I don't know if I could have moved on so quickly. I mostly just wanted to forget him. At first that's all I was using Byakuya for. I don't know if I would have ever moved in his direction if…"

Ichigo sat awkwardly as she broke into fresh sobs. He was trying to think of something to say when he realized she was trying to speak, and he leaned closer to listen to broken words.

"Bya… I… I want… Byakuya…."

Ichigo put a hand on her shoulder awkwardly and said gently, "Wait right here. I'll get him, okay?"

Rangiku nodded as her forehead sank to her knees and she continued to cry.

Ichigo took his hand from her shoulder, and had just stood up to leave when he heard her whisper his name.

"Ichigo… thank you. What you said… it… it did help… I… I'm sorry about your mother…"

Ichigo felt a lump form in this throat, and he took a quick shunpo back in the direction their friends were waiting. That way he could tell himself the tears were only from the wind stinging his eyes.

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Orihime quietly opened the door to the house they stayed in when they were in Seireitei, a silent Ichigo following her into the house and removing his sandals by rote.

The group had split up as soon as he returned. Yoruichi had left with the intention of telling Rangiku's close friends what had happened, knowing that Rangiku would need her friend's support in the weeks ahead. Karin and Toshiro had gone home, both still feeling bad about their parts in the situation. Byakuya had, of course, gone to Rangiku.

And Orihime had taken Ichigo by the hand and led him to their house. Other than to tell Byakuya that Rangiku wanted him Ichigo hadn't spoken since he returned to them, and Orihime could feel the sorrow in his heart.

But she knew better than to push at the wound now. He would tell her if and when he was ready to. Or he wouldn't. She knew if she pushed hard enough he would tell her, but she couldn't bring herself to hurt him any more than he was already hurting.

Ichigo followed her meekly, sitting on the couch beside her when she pulled him down, but still lost in his own thoughts. He felt one of her hands stroking down his back comfortingly, and forced himself to turn towards her, taking her other hand in his own gently.

He had been with her long enough to know exactly what was bothering her the most, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he let her go on thinking what he knew she was for a second longer than necessary. He still found it difficult to get the words out. "I… I'm sorry I never talked about it with you. I'm sorry I could never… I know I've told you little things about her but…"

"Ichigo, it's okay." Orihime said quietly. "You… you waited till I was ready to tell you about Hueco Mundo. You waited until I was ready to tell you about my nightmares. You, you don't have to talk about it…"

"Hime, I know it bothers you." Ichigo whispered, and she fell silent at the nickname he normally used only when they were at their most personal and private. "It bothers you that I never talked to you about it, and it bothers you more that I talked about it with someone else."

"It's not about me, Ichigo." Orihime replied, her eyes showing sympathy. "I know how hard it is for you to talk about your feelings. Especially about your mom. I love that you've told me as much as you have. I know that you've trusted me with feelings you've never told anyone else about. I…"

"I always wanted to be just like her." Ichigo cut her off, and took a deep breath when she only widened her eyes and watched him. "I've told you how she was the center of my universe… how just being with her always made me smile. Even after she… she was gone, I wanted her to be proud of me. I wanted to believe she was up in heaven, watching out for me, and being proud of me. I… I failed to protect her, but I wouldn't ever fail at protecting anyone else. I wasn't strong enough to save her, so I had to make it up to her by not letting anyone else get hurt. Ever."

"You wanted to repay her for saving your life by doing the same thing she did." Orihime whispered. "By protecting others."

Ichigo's eyes closed as a shudder ran through him. "You understand me so well."

"I love you." Orihime replied simply. "I always wondered why you had such a strong desire to protect everyone, but I never thought that much about it. It's just who you are."

"Just like wanting to heal everyone is who you are." Ichigo replied after a moment of reflexive silence.

"Because I can't stand to see anyone in pain." Orihime whispered, realizing even as she spoke that, just as he had never spoken of his mother's death, she had never spoken of her brother's in quite this way before. "After Sora died, I… I knew how much it hurt to lose someone you loved, and I never wanted anyone else to feel that way. I wanted to save everyone, so that no one who loved them would have to be sad."

"Hime…"

"It… it's why I was so confused when Karin died." Orihime admitted. "I mean, we were sad that she died, but it meant she got to be with Toshiro. She got to be with the man she loved. And we could still see her whenever we wanted. She wasn't really gone, you know what I mean? But I still felt like such a failure because I hadn't been able to save her."

"You never said anything about…" Ichigo whispered.

"You were so sad about losing her." Orihime replied. "And you were coming up here every week to check on her, and you always told me how well she was doing. How happy she was. And I started thinking that maybe it was good that I hadn't saved her, but at the same time it didn't feel like _not_ saving someone could ever be the right answer. It took me a while, but I realized in this case it _was_ the right answer. It turned out better this way. But the tiniest part of me still wishes I could have saved her."

"Just like part of me still wishes I could have saved my mom. But… but if my mom hadn't died like she did, I wouldn't be the same person I am today." Ichigo whispered. "If your brother hadn't died like he did, you wouldn't be the person you are today."

"Your mother would be so proud of you, if she could see who you've become." Orihime whispered.

"Your brother too, of you." Ichigo whispered, taking both of her hands in his.

The words he'd been trying to find for over a month were finally clear in his head. Suddenly it didn't seem scary at all. He knew he wasn't going to blush, or stammer. He knew he wasn't going to get nervous and back out. He was damned if they were going to be interrupted again.

All his love for her burning in his eyes, Ichigo asked softly, "Orihime, will you marry me?"

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_I've wasted time, I've wasted me; so say I'm slow for my age, a late bloomer, okay I agree… Someone's gonna make good, cross his stupid heart. Make good and finally make you, proud of your boy."_

_From "Proud of Your Boy," a deleted song from Disney's "Aladdin"_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

* * *

TBC…

AN2: He finally got to ask! And I don't think it counts as a cliffhanger when everyone knows what she's going to say. ;-)


	9. Forever

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: This part is dedicated to everyone who loved "No Warm Memories," "Absence," and "Hanabi," and begged me for yet more HitsuKarin interaction. Oh, and their scene grew to long to be in this story, so it can be found in my newest HitsuKarin one-shot, "Live and Love." Another dedication on this part goes to everyone who embraced "Behind This Mask," and the lovely crack pairing that is ByaRan. And of course to everyone who loved "I'll Stand By You," as you were all the inspiration for "Until the Last Breath." Now that I've plugged almost half the stories in this series, enjoy this new part.

* * *

Until the Last Breath

By Lady Callista

Chapter : Forever

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"Don't marry the person you think you can live the rest of your life with, marry the one you know you can't live the rest of your life without." _

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Byakuya shunpoed into their bedroom via the balcony, Rangiku sleeping limply in his arms. She hadn't spoken since he had gone to her, but she had clung to him while she cried, and seemed to take comfort in his presence.

He tucked her gently into their bed, putting her pink scarf and necklace carefully into the drawer of her nightstand and shutting it softly. He knelt there for a moment, just watching her sleep, his fingers brushing tenderly over her tear-stained cheeks. Then with a deep, cleansing breath, he flashed from the room and down to his meditation garden.

And realized the second he arrived that solitude and meditation were not going to be found tonight. "Rukia, why are you here?"

"Yoruichi told us about… about Ichimaru." Despite herself, Rukia couldn't help the shudder that went through her as she said the man's name. "Is she okay? Are you?"

"She cried herself to sleep." Byakuya said softly as he settled down beside his sister. "Kurosaki spoke with her; I don't know what he said but it seemed to help some, she didn't seem nearly so lost after he left her as she had been when she first ran off."

"And you, Nii-sama?" Rukia asked softly.

"This is not about me." He whispered. "Not about my feelings. All I can do is be there for her."

"I know you don't want to burden her with your own feelings, but you can tell them to me." Rukia offered gently. Two years ago she wouldn't have dreamed that she would ever be able to speak like this to him. "Ichigo almost died for me, after I had left him for the express purpose of keeping him safe. I was mad at him when I found out he had come for me. I was so mad at him…"

"She did express anger towards Ichimaru. She said she would rather have died herself than live with knowing he died for her." Byakuya couldn't look at his sister as he spoke.

"I remember feeling that way, especially when Renji joined Ichigo in trying to save me." Rukia whispered. "Two of the people in the world that I cared the most about, and they were ready to die for me. I… I don't know if anyone has ever done that for you… But let me tell you the worst thing about it."

"Rukia…" Byakuya turned towards her then, his expression unreadable.

"The worst thing about it is feeling like you're not worth it." Rukia said as a single tear slid down her cheek.

His hand came to rest gently on her shoulder. "How can anyone weigh one life against another? Especially when that life is someone you love? Kurosaki and Abarai felt that you were worth dying for. Just as you felt it would be worth your death if it kept Kurosaki and your other human friends safe."

"I've seen it from both sides. Just as Orihime has, and Ichigo. I've almost died for someone, and I've almost had someone die for me." Rukia wiped absently at the tears she couldn't believe she was shedding. "The first one was easy, the second much harder. And maybe if one of them had actually died it would be different… but… but in the end I could only feel lucky that I had people that loved me that much."

"I understand what he did." Byakuya said softly. "I've never had to make the choice, but I would die for Rangiku, as I would have for Hisana. I would die for you. But it would destroy something inside me to know that any of you died _for_ me. Knowing Hisana died _because_ of me is horror enough for one lifetime."

"Maybe someday I'll feel lucky that he loved me enough to die for me." Rangiku's voice came softly from behind them, her reiatsu so subdued that even knowing she was there neither Byakuya or Rukia could sense her.

"Ran-c… Rangiku." Byakuya whispered.

"But right now I'm still stuck on something in me being destroyed because I know he died for me." Rangiku whispered. "Rukia-chan, could… could you…"

Rukia understood immediately. "Find me if you need anything. Anytime."

Rangiku nodded, and her friend vanished into the night.

"How long were you there?" Byakuya asked in a neutral tone, his will alone holding him still. He wanted more than anything to go to her, but didn't know how she would react. He would give her whatever she needed, even though what _he_ wanted was to hold her and make everything else go away. But as he had told his sister, this wasn't about him. And he knew neither he nor anyone else had the power to make everything better.

"Since Rukia said the worst thing about it was feeling like you weren't worth it." Rangiku whispered as she crossed to him, curling up on the ground beside him to rest her head against his chest.

His arms came around her with a sigh, and he tipped his head down to rest his cheek on her hair. "He may have done it only for you, but he saved us all."

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one?" Rangiku quoted, anger flashing into her voice as she pulled back from him.

Byakuya let her slide partly away, but caught her shoulders in his hands firmly. "That's not what I mean. I'm not saying we would have lost if he hadn't told Hitsugaya… I'm not saying I would let anyone sacrifice themselves for the rest of us, not if there was another way. But after you left… something Hitsugaya said made me think. We may be called gods, but we cannot see the future. We are not omniscient. We cannot know for certain what changing a single event would do. We do not know if our lives would be better or worse."

"We still lost so many in the War, even with what he did." Rangiku whispered. "But we could have lost so much more. All the Shinigami, and the entire world, could have been destroyed. Or we could have saved the world and he might have died anyway."

"I…"

Rangiku met his eyes as he trailed off. "Please, say what you want to say."

"I've spent the past two years hating him. First because he offended my sense of honor by betraying us, and later because of how much he hurt you. Every time you woke in the night, crying for him, I hated him a little more." Byakuya admitted with a whisper. "Not because I was jealous of him, not because I was jealous that another man knew what it was like to be loved by you. Not even because I ever thought you loved him more than you loved me. No, I hated him because of how much he had hurt you, and because I didn't understand how anyone could want more in life than your love. But now that we know why he did it, I cannot hate him. For I would do the same thing for you."

Rangiku melted back against his chest, her arms going around him. "It's more for me than what Rukia said. More than just not thinking I'm worth it. The one thought that keeps popping into my head is that if things had been different I might not have you. I might not have fallen in love with you. And I can't imagine my life without you in it. I can't imagine not loving you. And that makes me feel so guilty. Guilty that even knowing someone died for me to have this life, I can't regret the past two years. I've been so happy with you, and I never would have had that if Gin hadn't…"

Byakuya's arms tightened around her as she started to cry softly, and he whispered into her hair, "That's what he wanted. He wanted you happy."

"I… I want everyone to know." Rangiku whispered into his chest. "I want everyone to know that he wasn't a traitor."

"Yoruichi-sama told Rukia and some of your other friends. Which means it will likely be all over Seireitei by sunrise." Byakuya said softly.

"Thank you for understanding." Rangiku whispered softly. "I know it can't be easy for you to watch me cry over him. Again."

"It is not as difficult as the times you have cried because of me." Byakuya replied. "Ran-ch… Rangiku…"

"No." Rangiku interrupted him, pulling away enough to see his face and rest her fingertips lightly on his lips. "Not Rangiku."

"Ran-chan." He whispered as her fingers withdrew.

She curled into him again, and without another word to picked her up again and carried her up to their bed.

Only this time he spooned himself behind her and held her as she continued to cry softly.

He knew it would take time, but he knew she was strong enough to get past this. And that he would help her in any way that he could.

He had spent years wishing that he could have killed Ichimaru himself. Or at least wishing that Kira-fukutaicho had killed him much more slowly and painfully.

Now, as he slowly drifted to sleep with the woman he loved in his arms, he only wished he could thank Ichimaru for his sacrifice. And make sure he knew that Ran-chan was safe, happy, and loved, and would be for the rest of her life.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Did you hear?"

Rukia paused in the act of taking off her waraji by the door to Renji's rooms in the barracks. Although they had rooms at the Kuchiki mansion, most of the time they were more comfortable in the barracks, away from the Kuchiki elders.

"Hear what?" She asked as she continued to remove her shoes. The way rumors flew around Seireitei it could have been anything, although it was likely a version of the truth she had heard less than an hour ago from Yoruichi.

"I was out drinking with Izuru and Shuuhei, and Yoruichi-san flashed in and told us that…."

"That Ichimaru never really betrayed us." Rukia said softly as she padded across the room to put her arms around him, shivering slightly as she said the man's name.

Renji wrapped his arms around his wife instantly, confused by the look in her eyes he had seen before she cuddled into his chest. "I didn't think you interacted with him much."

Rukia sighed deeply, for once not protesting when he picked her up and cradled her in his arms before crossing to sit on the couch. "Before you and Ichigo saved me, when… when I was being led to my execution… He spoke to me. I had accepted my fate, and was willing to die if it meant Ichigo and the other humans would be safe. I accepted that I had broken the laws; I even accepted my own brother turning his back on me. I accepted my death. I was at peace, and it was okay. Then he spoke to me."

Renji ran his hands lightly up and down her back, hearing her voice begin to show the tears he could see running silently down her face. "What did he say?" Renji whispered after she was silent for a bit, and one of his hands came up to brush at her cheeks.

"He made it seem like he was going to help me. Like he was going to save me, help me escape. And even though I had accepted my death… when it seemed like I was going to have a chance to live…. That hope…. I broke. I wanted to live again. And then he laughed that creepy laugh of his, and told me with that creepy smile that of course he wasn't actually going to help me."

"Bastard." Renji growled it low in his throat, able to imagine what Ichimaru's comments had done to her psyche.

"That's what I thought then too, what I've thought for the past two years. But if he was actually on our side the entire time…" Rukia trailed off, brushing impatiently at her cheeks. Even in front of the one she loved most, she hated to cry.

"Then why?" Renji asked softly, his hands continuing to caress her soothingly.

"He had met Ichigo by that point, and would have read reports of his interactions with the other taicho. He knew he wouldn't give up. I think he was trying to make sure I wouldn't give up either. I was so mad at you, and at Ichigo, when you saved me. But part of me was grateful too, and I'm not sure that part would have been there if it hadn't been for what he said."

"If you want me to feel grateful to him…"

"No." Rukia's voice was clearer. "I don't really feel grateful to him, and I doubt I ever will. But as I just told my brother, I know what it's like to be willing to do anything for someone, even die. I assume Yoruichi told you why he…"

"For Ran-chan." Renji said softly. "He made everyone think he was a traitor, all to make sure she was happy in the end. The same way I betrayed Seireitei when I helped Ichigo save you."

"Everyone forgave you." Rukia whispered as she turned her face up to look at him.

"Do you think they'll forgive him, now that they know?"

"I don't think it matters, or that he would have cared. I just hope Ran-chan can forgive him, and keep being happy with her life."

Renji kissed her gently. "We might not be this happy without what he did. We might not even be together."

"I still don't know if I can be grateful, or forgive him, but I think I can stop hating him." She kissed him back, deepening the kiss. "When I think I might not have you…"

"Don't think about that." Renji replied as his hands slid to her belt. "I never want to think about not having you with me."

Rukia smiled as he finished untying her belt, and slid his hands into the neck of her shihakusho, pushing it gently from her shoulders. "Don't worry, you're stuck with me forever."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Across town, Karin stood with her arms comfortably wrapped around Toshiro from behind as he stood looking out the window at the stars. Her cheek rested comfortably in the hollow between his shoulder blades, and her eyes were closed in thought.

He had just assured her that it wasn't really her fault, and that on most levels he was glad that Rangiku finally knew, although he did wish there had been a better way for her to find out.

They had been standing in comfortable silence for a few moments before Karin said softly, "I'm glad Ichi-nii stayed up here. Because I know what he means when he says mom died because of him. But I don't understand why he said she died to protect him."

"You've never told me how your mother died." Toshiro offered hesitantly.

Karin shuddered slightly. "Can we lay down first? I want you holding me while I tell you."

Toshiro turned to face her, pulling her into his arms in a tender hug. "I'll never say no if you ask me to hold you." He whispered the promise in her ear, the heat of his breath and the intensity in his voice causing a shiver to roll down her spine.

And so they climbed into bed together, and he held her in his arms while she told him a sad story.

OoOoOoOoOoO

The words Ichigo had been trying to find for weeks were finally clear in his head. Suddenly it didn't seem scary at all. He knew he wasn't going to blush, or stammer. He knew he wasn't going to get nervous and back out. He was damned if they were going to be interrupted again.

All his love for her burning in his eyes, Ichigo asked softly, "Orihime, will you marry me?"

Orihime's eyes filled with wonder and joy. "Ichigo… why now? Why…"

"Because you understand me like no one else ever could. Because there's nothing I can't tell you. Because I can't imagine not waking up with my arms around you, or at least with your scent on my pillow. Because I can't imagine my life without you." Ichigo released one of her hands, and raised his own to cup her cheek. Although he had felt the blush rise to his cheeks as he began to speak, it had actually faded rather than growing stronger. He couldn't be embarrassed when he knew it was right. "And because we both love each other more than our own lives. We already know we're going to spend the rest of our lives together. I… I knew the first time we made love that there would never be anyone else for me. I want everyone else to know how much I love you. I want you to be my wife. And I promise to love you always, in this life and the next."

Tears sprang to Orihime's eyes at the depth of emotion in his as well as at his words, and she gasped as he pulled a velvet box out of his pocket, turning it so she could see it before opening it to reveal a beautiful diamond solitaire, sparkling on a band of gold.

"Will you marry me?" Ichigo asked again, softly, as she continued to stare at the ring, although he could see the answer in her eyes.

When he wanted to be, he could be so romantic. Not that anyone but her ever saw this side of him. "For five lifetimes." She whispered without thinking.

"What?"

Orihime gave a slightly nervous giggle, her hand rising to caress his cheek in a mirror of how he had touched her a moment ago. "When I said goodbye to you, before Hueco Mundo… I was thinking about how I was going to die down there. About how I would never get to do all the things I wanted to do. But there were so many things I wanted that I never could have done them in a single life anyway. I saw myself having different jobs, living in different places; I saw everything that my life could have been. But no matter where I was or what I was doing, I saw you by my side. You said we don't know who we would be if our lives had been different. But I know that no matter what, I would have fallen in love with you."

Ichigo leaned in to kiss her softly, and after only a brief second Orihime pulled back just enough to whisper her answer against his lips. "Yes, Ichigo. Of course I'll marry you. I'll love you forever, and I can't imagine not spending my life with you."

Ichigo slid the ring onto her finger softly and kissed it before their arms wrapped around each other and they continued to kiss. Ichigo slid her into his arms without breaking the kiss and carried her into their bedroom, sitting down with her on his lap as his hands started to rove under the back of her shirt.

Orihime slid her hands up into his hair as the kiss deepened, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction and rightness when a strand of his hair caught in the gold setting of her new ring. And then she could swear she felt a pulse of reiatsu from the ring itself, one that was familiar and yet not at the same time.

"Ichigo?" Orihime whispered breathlessly as he unhooked her bra so his fingers could trail uninterrupted up and down her spine, something that always made her shiver in pleasure.

"Hmmm?" His lips cruised down her neck as his other hand began to teasingly trace over her thigh.

"This ring…." Orihime said softly, trailing off when she realized his fingers were tracing the kanji for love over and over as he slowly moved higher up her thigh. "Was this ring…"

"My mother's." Ichigo whispered. "Dad wanted us to have it; he said to tell you that… that mom would have loved you. Although not as much as I do. No one could ever love you that much."

Orihime melted back into his arms, and for the rest of the night the two of them forgot about the rest of the world.

TBC…..

* * *

AN: As I said in the beginning, the scene with Toshiro and Karin was so much longer than this that it became it's own story, "Live and Love." And I hope those who have been waiting for the Renji & Rukia story in the series enjoyed this little cuteness with them. In fact, I hope all the readers who followed me to this from various other stories are enjoying the moments with the other couples, and sorry to those people who are here just for the IchiHime story. Hope there was enough of them. Please review. Pretty please?


	10. Death

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I love you guys! And sorry to those of you who were waiting for more story, but I've pretty much told the story I set out to tell. Which was getting Ichigo to open up about his mother, working things out with his Hollow, and getting him to propose. Getting to write all the other stuff with the other characters was just a huge bonus.

So now…. Time jump! Only this and the epilogue to go. Some angst here, sort of, depending on how you look at it. After all, this story is about loving until your last breath.

* * *

Until the Last Breath

By Lady Callista

Chapter 10: Death

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_Why should death always have the last word?"_

_-a Magic: the Gathering card_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_**OoO Nearly 20 years later OoO**_

"Are you sure you'll be alright on your own, Orihime-chan?" Isshin asked as he tucked the grocery list she had written out into his front pocket.

"Of course." Orihime smiled as she glanced over at the crackling fireplace, and the blanket and book she had tossed unto the couch in front of it.

"Cause I could wait till Ichigo and the kids get back from skiing." Isshin offered even as he pulled on his coat.

"It's fine." Orihime replied. "Knowing them they'll be out for at least an hour or two yet, and dinner will be really late if you wait till then to get the groceries."

"Okay, I'll be back as soon as I can." Isshin said as he headed out the door.

Orihime called out a goodbye as she took her cup of hot chocolate and settled down by the fire with her book. She was tired from skiing all day with her family yesterday, and had opted to stay behind for the afternoon. Plus, as much as she was used to the chaos that seemed to follow in the wake of both Ichigo and their twin children, it was nice to have a little time to relax and do whatever she wanted.

Which at the moment consisted of doing nothing but sitting by the fire with her hot chocolate, reading the newest book in a romance series Rangiku had introduced her to the year before.

She hadn't been lost in the book for long when she heard a strange rumbling sound coming from further up the mountain.

Concerned, she moved to the window as the sound started to get louder, and she gasped as she watched a huge wall of tumbling snow coming down the mountain, straight towards her. She barely had time to call out before it hit, "Santen Kesshun."

She fell back from the window, rolling under the table and using her shield to hold it up above her as the house started to collapse under the weight of the snow.

Temporarily safe under her shield, Orihime desperately cast her reiatsu out far and wide, trying to find her family.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_

"So then," Rangiku laughed as she tossed back another shot of sake, "He actually leaned in, and he whispered that I shouldn't worry, because my husband would never have to know."

Rukia snorted, almost dropping the bottle she was refilling everyone's glasses from. "I can't believe you've been happily married for almost 20 years and still get propositioned on a regular basis."

"And who do you want propositioning you other than me?" Renji asked with a grin as he tossed an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"Oh, who cares?" Shunsui cut in. "I wanna know how the guy ended up being carried into the yonbantai so beaten up I hear they thought he was dead at first."

"Well, as he said the last part, he moved in and tried to grab my ass." Rangiku laughed at the memory.

"So you used him as your punching bag." Shuuhei smirked at the thought and reached over to click his glass to hers. Memories of her truly riled up when guys who were flirting with her went too far flicked through his mind, and even decades after they had happened he found they were still among the most amusing and entertaining moments of his life.

But Rangiku surprised them all by shaking her head.

"You didn't beat him to a pulp for that?" Yoruichi gasped as she grabbed for Rangiku's arm. "What did you do?"

Rangiku smirked, and let out a wicked-sounding chuckle. "I simply informed him that my husband was standing less than a meter behind him."

The table dissolved in a fit of laugher, which cut off abruptly as a huge explosion of reiatsu exploded from one of the much lower districts. Everyone was on their feet in a second.

"What the hell was that?" Ikkaku shouted as the eleven taicho-class Shinigami flew out into the streets, trying to hone in on the location the reiatsu had come from.

"Where did it come from?" Kisuke shouted even as he sent his reiatsu out in search of an answer. Most of the people in the area crumpled under the pressure, but this was no time for niceties. It wouldn't harm them permanently.

There was another stronger explosion then, and it seemed slightly closer as well.

"Over there!" Izuru pointed, Wabisuke already in his hand. "No, wait…"

Another explosion went off, on a diagonal from the first two, and closer yet.

"Where is it?" Nanao yelled as the Shinigami took to the rooftops, spreading out and drawing zanpakuto.

"It's…" Momo trailed off as a black, white, and pink blur flew by them.

"That way!" Yachiru's voice trailed through the night, her maybe ten-year-old looking body still fitting perfectly on Kenpachi's strong back.

"Why would the taicho…" Ikkaku did a double-take even as Yumichika suddenly put a hand to his own forehead and sighed deeply.

"Can't you feel it?" Kisuke called out. "That reiatsu seem familiar to anyone else?"

"It feels like…" Rukia trailed off in shock.

"But it can't be!" Renji exclaimed

"Oh, don't stand there with your foreheads wrinkled in thought. It's very unbeautiful." Yumichika sniffed. "Who but Kurosaki Ichigo could make such an annoying and ugly racket?"

Various eyes met in shock for a moment, then all eleven pairs of eyes flashed to the east as another explosion of reiatsu went off. It was close enough now that they could begin to hear the shouts.

And above all of the panicked ones was a deep, very familiar one. "ORIHIME!"

Just as they were about to shunpo in the direction of the disturbance, a messenger from the soutaicho flashed into existence in their mist. He turned to Kyoraku Shunsui, as he was the ranking member of the group by virtue of his age and experience. "Kyoraku-taicho, Kurosaki Ichigo died a few minutes ago!"

Shunsui simply cocked an eyebrow and said dryly, yet with a slight bite of sarcasm, "No kidding."

Then he shunpoed off in the direction of the reiatsu, the other Shinigami vanishing in his wake only a second later.

_OoOoOoO_

"I'm so glad you're back from that mission." Hitsugaya Toshiro said softly as he and his wife lay curled together on the couch. "I missed holding you at night."

Karin smiled, tilting her head up from where it rested on his chest to kiss him softly on the jaw. "I missed you too."

He had just tilted his head down to kiss her properly when a huge wave of reiatsu crashed into them. They were on their feet in an instant, and standing on top of their home in the next one.

This time they saw the huge explosion of reiatsu, way to the east of them and off in the Rukongai, but lighting up the sky around it vividly.

"ICHI-NII!" Karin screamed at once.

"But him and Orihime weren't planning on visiting until next week!" Toshiro replied even as the two of them starting shunpoing in the direction of the reiatsu, their joined hands allowing them to move as one and still talk as the did so.

"From the feel of his reiatsu I don't think he's on a friendly visit!" Karin yelled, then suddenly pulled Toshiro to a stop. "And I don't feel Orihime-nee… wait!"

She suddenly pulled him off in a new direction, moving on an angle that would cross back less then a kilometer from their house in the elite housing area of Seireitei.

"Karin, where are we going?" Toshiro kept up with her, trusting she had a reason for what she was doing.

"Their house! The one they keep up here, I mean." Karin replied without missing a beat. "I know Ichigo's out there somewhere, but everyone can sense _him_. They'll find him and bring him to Seireitei. But if he's here, there's a good chance Orihime-nee is too. And no one would feel her over _that_!" Her head spun towards the east again as another wave of reiatsu rolled towards them just as they landed on top of their destination.

Toshiro stopped briefly on the roof to stare out towards the east, while Karin flashed right into the house through an open second-story window.

Toshiro was just about to join her when a messenger from the soutaicho flashed into existence and went to one knee before him. "Hitsugaya-taicho, we've… we've just received word that Kurosaki Ichigo and Orihime have died."

The corner of Toshiro's eye twitched as Karin appeared beside him, setting a slightly disoriented Orihime on her feet carefully, making sure she had her balance on the slightly steep roof.

He gazed down on the messenger with a slight twinkle in his emerald eyes. "You don't say?"

_OoOoOoO_

Kuchiki Byakuya was just putting his baby son into his cradle when he felt the first explosion.

He flashed up to the roof of his mansion after taking a moment to lay a protective kido around the crib.

His attention immediately turned towards the east, and he sighed deeply as he registered a reiatsu so overpowering it could only be one person. And from the feel of it, he was actually dead.

"Kurosaki Ichigo." Byakuya said softly. "And I was hoping for a quiet night."

When the soutaicho's messenger appeared before him, Byakuya didn't even lower his pride to give a response as he took a shunpo and was gone.

_OoOoOoOoO_

It took all 12 of the Shinigami who had tracked Ichigo down and at least half again as many kido to restrain him. Yachiru had, of course, gotten Kenpachi lost, which was a relief to everyone.

"Oi, Ichigo, what the hell happened?" Renji was the first one to get out a coherent question.

"I died, idiot." Ichigo shot back. "Now let me go! I've got to get back to Earth and save Orihime!"

"She's still alive?" Momo gasped as she started undoing one kido after another as quickly as she could.

"I don't know!" Ichigo's voice was fully of agony, and he hardly noticed when Byakuya and Izuru began removing kido from him as well. "But she could be! We were at a cabin in the mountains. There was an avalanche. I have to find her…"

"That still doesn't explain why you're dead." Rukia shot at him as the group took off for Seireitei and the nearest Senkaimon. "Why didn't you fly away, dumbass? You could have carried both your own body and Orihime."

"I was too busy carrying my kids out." Ichigo spat back as with his speed he pulled ahead of most of the others. Only Shunsui, Yoruichi, and Byakuya were keeping up with him.

"The twins…" Yoruichi gasped.

"They're fine." Ichigo replied. "I got them out, they're safe. The three of us were out skiing, and Orihime was with my dad in the cabin. I'm sure he got her out, but…"

"So you let your own body die in order to save your children." Shunsui said as the four of them flashed onto the ground in front of the east gate into Seireitei, and Byakuya called up to the guard, ordering that it be opened at once.

Ichigo didn't bother to reply as the gate slowly began to rise, and as soon as it was high enough he started to run through, only to pull up short as two figures flashed into place directly in his path.

The rest of the Shinigami that had found Ichigo had just caught up to them, and all of them stared as Ichigo stopped in front of Hitsugaya Toshiro and Karin.

"Long time no see, Ichi-nii." Karin smirked as she and Toshiro each took a step to the side, and Orihime ran out from behind them and straight into Ichigo's arms. "We found something you lost."

"You weren't supposed to die." Ichigo said softly into Orihime's hair as he clutched her tightly against his chest.

Orihime huffed. "Neither were you." She pulled back enough to look him in the eyes. "Otou-san said the kids are safe."

Ichigo nodded. "I got them away, but I had to let my own body die to do it. I was heading back for you guys, but the longer I went on once my body died, the weaker I felt. I was almost to the cabin when I collapsed, and then next thing I knew I woke up somewhere up in Rukongai."

"Without your body alive, your soul couldn't remain on Earth." Kisuke said as he came up behind them. "Your reiatsu is too attuned with Soul Society. You more or less subconsciously performed a konso on yourself."

"How did you get here, Orihime-chan?" Rukia moved up next to them as well.

"Isshin drove down to the town at the base of the mountains about fifteen minutes before it hit." Orihime said softly. "I felt the tremors, and I saw the avalanche coming, but there wasn't much I could do. I used my shield, but the cabin got crushed around me, and buried in the snow."

"Hime…" Ichigo whispered.

"It's okay." Orihime said softly. "I didn't really get hurt, and I felt you save the kids. I felt you coming back for me as well, and Isshin was coming too. But your reiatsu kept getting stranger, and weaker. When I felt you vanish… Your dad showed up a few seconds later, and started to try and move stuff to get to me. He confirmed that the kids were okay, but when I asked about you… I asked him if he could open a Senkaimon, and when he said yes, I asked him to take care of the kids, and I let my shield go away."

Ichigo glared at her for an instant, then just folded her back into his arms. "Idiot." He said affectionately.

"Like you wouldn't have done the same." Orihime said softly. "At least I didn't get lost once I got here."

Ichigo blushed slightly as the Shinigami around him all began laughing, and the group moved through the gate and into Seireitei.

_OoOoOoO Three days later OoOoOoO_

"Are you almost ready to go, Yuzu-chan?" Isshin called up the stairs as he rushed around the living room, trying to find his car keys.

"Looking for these, o-jii?"

Isshin's keys came sailing across the room, smacking him dead in the center of his forehead as he spun to face the familiar voice.

"Ichigo." He breathed, taking in the two shihakusho-clad figures that stood in the middle of the room. "Orihime-chan."

Yuzu came running down the stairs, throwing herself into her brother's arms with a shout of joy.

They had sent Isshin and Yuzu, as well as their children, jigoku-cho within an hour of entering Soul Society, but between all the things going on up there, and all the planning those still on Earth were doing, this was the first time they had actually made it back down to Earth in the three days since they died.

"Sorry I couldn't die laughing, otou-san." Ichigo said simply. "But I think mom would be okay with me dying to save my kids. She would kinda be a hypocrite otherwise."

Isshin chuckled, remembering a conversation that seemed to have taken place several lifetimes ago. "You should be more sorry because you didn't let your old man die first. That's two of my children now!" His voice was mostly joking, but there was a slight sadness in his eyes. "Three, really." His eyes softened more as he glanced at Orihime, who was firmly tucked under Ichigo's strong arm.

She smiled softly. "I love you too, otou-san. Don't think of us as dead, just think of us as having moved away. We can always visit each other."

Isshin cast wary eyes on Yuzu. Neither she nor Ichigo's children were allowed to travel to Soul Society.

"Yuzu was granted permission less than an hour ago." Ichigo said with a soft smile, reaching out to ruffle his sister's hair like he used to when she was little. "We're still working on the kids, but I'm pretty sure Yama-jii will cave in soon. Don't say anything to them just yet though."

Yuzu and her father both nodded, then she happened to glance at the clock on the wall and spoke softly, "We should get going, otou-san. We don't want to be late picking up the twins."

"They wanted to spend the night before the funeral at your…well…. At home." Isshin said softly.

Orihime smiled. "We know, we spoke to them already. And we'll be at the funeral."

"You two sure about that?"

Ichigo grinned. "Come on, o-jii, how many people get to go to their own funerals? Besides, there's kinda gonna be, well, a surprise there."

"You're going to stick mod-souls in your bodies and scare the crap out of people?" Isshin grinned as the four of them headed for the door.

"Not exactly."

TBC….

AN2: Only the Epilogue to go… Please take a sec to review.


	11. I Do Not Sleep

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter.

Author's Notes: To those who are disappointed in the sudden time jump and lack of more IchiHime goodness: I said from the beginning that this story was going to have lots with other characters as well, because I dislike isolating characters in their own little worlds. This was more about showing what it would take to get Ichigo specifically to open up about parts of himself. I know there was lots with other characters, but those circumstances were necessary to develop Ichigo's personality and way of thinking. I still feel this is an IchiHime story at heart, but I understand why some people had problems with it. Sorry. But for the most part I really like how it turned out.

The epilogue is a slightly odd style for me, but this part kinda just started writing itself. Please enjoy, and tell me what you think. At this point I'm still not sure which story in the series I'm going to start next, although if you haven't already done so you can vote at the poll on my page for which one you want. Huge, turbo thanks for everyone who stuck with me on this one, especially through the three month delay between parts 5 & 6. And here, finally, is the end…

* * *

Until the Last Breath

By Lady Callista

Epilogue : I Do Not Sleep

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_Do not stand at my grave and weep. _

_I am not there, I do not sleep." _

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

They came by the hundreds to pay their respects.

Students that Orihime had taught were there, some with their parents, others old enough now that they had children of their own. Teachers from Karakura High. Patients of the Kurosaki clinic. Doctors and nurses that had known Ichigo from the times he had helped out at the local hospital. Friends from both high school and college. Friends from the various committees and charities the two Kurosaki's had been part of. And many more.

It seemed half of the small town was there that day, if not to stay for the service then at least to pay their respects.

They spoke first to the orange-haired twins, surprised at how well the two seemed to be dealing with things. But of course they were probably still in shock. That would explain why their attention kept drifting from those they were speaking to and shifting to the open air around where all the chairs were set up.

Then they spoke to the father, and the sister and brother-in-law, all of whom were just as composed as the twins. Although their attention seemed to drift as well.

Those who knew them, which was most, also exchanged brief words with the other three in the front row, no one being able to dispute that they belonged with the rest of the family.

No one was surprised that the gentle giant and the stoic fashion designer were dry-eyed, but there was some surprise that the karate master was silent and calm looking as well. Although those who knew her well would have been more surprised to see her crying than they would have been had she been up at the casket angrily screaming at Ichigo for dying on her, none had expected her to be sitting quietly beside her husband, both of their eyes for some reason occasionally flicking off to the left of the gathering, which was empty except for old tombstones.

The procession of people went on for well over an hour, until finally everyone had spoken with the family, and bowed before the caskets, many speaking a few words there as well.

Finally, as those who were staying found their seats, and those who were not staying had left, a priest stepped forward to stand before the matched caskets, lighting more incense and laying a light hand on both closed lids before turning to face those assembled.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn the passing of Kurosaki Ichigo and Orihime."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"_Do not stand at my grave and weep. _

_I am not there, I do not sleep. _

_I am a thousand winds that blow, _

_I am the diamond glints on snow. _

_I am the sunlight on ripened grain, _

_I am the gentle autumn's rain. _

_When you awaken in the morning's hush,_

_I am the swift uplifting rush _

_of quiet birds in circled flight. _

_I am the stars that shine at night. _

_Do not stand at my grave and cry, _

_I am not there, I did not die." _

Tears shone in many eyes, and ran down many faces, as Yuzu finished reading the poem she had selected, and quietly stepped down from the podium.

Yet the young women's eyes were completely dry as she took her seat next to her father, and her voice had not wavered once while she was reciting.

The masses were confused, for no one could understand how she had gotten through it without breaking down.

Just as none of the hundreds gathered could understand how the normally overly emotional Kurosaki Isshin had not let out so much as a single wail.

Also conspicuously dry-eyed and composed were Chad, Tatsuki, and Uryu, who had been best friends with the two deceased since they were all young.

But the most amazing and incomprehensible thing to all of the assembled mourners was that Ichigo and Orihime's twins, barely 18 and miraculous survivors of the disaster that had killed their parents, had also not shed a single tear.

They sat side by side next to Isshin, holding hands, and at times people noticed that their attention to the service faltered. For most of the time their heads were tilted to the right, or to the left, their eyes seeming to scan the emptiness beyond the seats as if they could see things there no one else could.

And had anyone been able to see the faces of the eight in the front row, they would have been ever more confused, and possibly outraged. For there were times during the service, particularly during Yuzu's poem, that eyes twinkled and smiles flashed as eyes darted back and forth between the eight of them, and between the seemingly empty air all around the chairs.

The hundreds were confused, because they couldn't see Ichigo and Orihime standing to the left of and a few paces forward of the row of seats that contained their family, and the friends who had also become family.

Nor could any of them see the twenty-five taicho and fukutaicho of Seireitei, ordered by division, standing along the sides of each row of seats. They didn't know that the man they were gathered to mourn had already been offered and accepted the one empty space in that formation. A space that had once been filled by a man he had killed to save the worlds.

They were equally blind to the sea of black and white garbed figures that spread out around their leaders, hundreds of Shinigami standing at attention in respectful silence to two of the greatest heroes of Soul Society.

They didn't see the line of Vizards that stood at the back of the gathering, silently acknowledging the end of the human lives of two people who had saved two worlds.

They did not hear Ichigo's soft chuckle at the opening lines that stated he was not in his grave.

They did not think of the breeze felt by someone shunpoing by them when they heard about winds blowing. Nor did they see Hisagi Shuuhei's small smile as he thought of his own Kazeshini.

The phrase about diamond glints on snow did not make them think of Hyorinmaru, or Sode no Shirayuki, casting ice and snow around a battlefield.

None of them remembered what it felt like when the sun rose the day after the Winter War ended, and it finally sunk into everyone's tired minds that they had just saved two worlds from complete annihilation.

None of them had been conscious when a strange kido that had just been invented was used to call rain down on the town just as it reverted to the real world, the rain conveniently also leaving them unconcerned about why they were sleeping on the streets, or in a store, or in their cars. The tornados that had resulted from that storm were remembered for the damage they had done to a corner of the town, but none of the normal humans gathered connected this event to that one.

They did not hear Isshin chuckle as he thought of birds randomly taking flight as Shinigami passed beneath their perches, startled by gusts of wind they could not account for.

And it never occurred to them that the shooting stars they sometimes saw at night were far closer than they imagined, and were in fact sparks cast off of clashing weapons, or kido blasts cast at Hollows.

Although most believed in an afterlife of some kind, most would have fainted if they knew just how many 'dead' people were in their midst that day.

But none of them knew, and none of them could see, so it was okay.

It wasn't until the service was over, and all the normal humans had gone back to their normal lives, that tears sparkled in the eyes of the Kurosaki twins.

The Vizards had departed soon after the humans, speaking to both Ichigo and Orihime before leaving. The rank-less Shinigami filled quietly through a Senkaimon, along with some of their leaders, while those closer to Ichigo and Orihime moved up to circle by the family.

Orihime and Ichigo knelt side by side in front of their two children, all eight of their hands joined. And now the twin's tears began to fall.

"You know it's not goodbye." Ichigo said gruffly, although his own eyes were suspiciously bright.

"We know." They spoke as one, something they had done when they were little, but hadn't done in many years.

"Yamamoto-soutaicho has given you both the same special privilege we had." Ichigo's voice was still gruff, but his love showed clearly in his eyes. "The same as the rest of the family still have. You can come to Seireitei whenever you want. And you know we'll be back to check up on you."

"Hitomu." Orihime's eyes turned to their son first. "When we found out we were having twins, and that they were a boy and a girl, we both knew you would be born first. Because we both knew that every girl needed an older brother to protect her. And that's even more true for us than most people. Yet we hoped you would never have to do that. You know your name means "one dream," but we never told you what our dream for you was. Our dream was that you could have a normal childhood, and never know war and pain like we did, and grow up knowing that you were loved, and…."

"Well, as normal as possible with all these eccentric aunts and uncles around." Ichigo broke in as his gaze caught on several of the fukutaicho in particular.

"And we've always been proud of you." Orihime ignored him with the grace of long practice. "We love you both so much."

"I love you too, mom, dad." Hitomu said softly. "I'll always take care of Chiharu, and she of me. You know that."

"We know." Orihime said softly as she turned towards their daughter. "Chiharu. Neither you nor your brother has ever experienced anything like the Winter War. You've heard stories, and you've helped us fight Hollows, but you don't know what war is like on that scale. I pray you never do. You don't know what it's like to not know if you'll be alive when winter ends. Your name means 'a thousand springs,' and it's common enough you never questioned it. Because you really can't imagine what it felt like to us that first spring after the war, when the snows started to melt and the world we had saved started to look more and more alive. We named you in memory of that. To remind us that no matter how dark and bad things could get, spring would always come. Life would always continue."

"Just as you will now continue your lives without us." Ichigo said softly as Orihime trailed off. "But with us just the same."

Chiharu slid off of her seat to hug her mother in a calm and loving embrace. She hugged her father the same way a moment later, even as Hitomu also hugged each in turn.

Then the twins pulled back, and cast mischievous glances at each other before speaking, one finishing the other's sentence.

"So, since we can go to Seireitei whenever we want…."

"That means we get to come with you now and go to your official welcome party, right?"

Had any of the normal humans who had been at the funeral still been there, they would have been mortified at the laughter that filled the cemetery. They would also have been confused about hearing twice as many people laughing as they could see. But there was no one left that didn't understand.

Flanked by their children, with their friends following behind, Ichigo and Orihime led the remaining Shinigami though the Senkaimon, and to the party that would start their new lives.

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_Do not stand at my grave and cry, _

_I am not there, I did not die." _

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

THE END!

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_I will love you always. When this red hair is white, I will still love you. When the smooth softness of youth is replaced with the delicate softness of age, I will still want to touch your skin. When your face is full of the lines of every smile you have smiled, of every surprise I have seen flash through your eyes, when every tear you have cried has left its mark upon your face, I will treasure you all the more, because I was there to see it all. I will share your life with you, Meredith, and I will love you _until the last breath _leaves your body or mine."_

_-Frost in "A Lick of Frost" by Laurell K. Hamilton_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

* * *

AN: Too cheesy? OOC? Can't decide if I like it or not, but it's done.

Obviously there will be more stories that take place before the last two parts of this one, as I still have more stories to tell in this world. At first I considered making these last two parts a separate story, but I liked the idea of putting them in this story, especially as the idea behind this story was loving someone until your last breath, which kinda means you have to die. And yes, the reason that the position of Gobantai taicho was never filled was I knew I wanted the series to end with Ichigo dying and stepping into that spot. The other available spots were all filled (with some rearrangement) by series main characters, the details of which are already known or will be seen in later stories. Reviews are really, really, appreciated.


End file.
